Texas · insurance alternatives
Affordable Health Insurance Alternatives in Texas
Texas individual-plan prices rose about 34.7% for 2026, insurers proposed about 13.1% more for 2027, and the extra tax credits are gone. If you buy your own plan, here's an honest look at the alternatives: direct primary care, health care sharing and dental savings plans, with real prices and real limits.
- Free, no obligation
- Not an insurance agency
- Honest about the limits
Thanks, we've got it.
We'll look at direct primary care options in your area and contact you with your estimate.
Prefer to talk now? Call (214) 307-8614Paying too much for your own health plan?
If you get health coverage through a big employer, the state or the military, this site probably isn't for you. It's for the Texans who buy their own: the self-employed, oilfield and construction contractors, truckers, ranchers, people between jobs, and early retirees who aren't 65 yet.
That group has had a rough year. The extra federal tax credits that kept Marketplace plans affordable ended after 2025. Texas individual-plan prices rose about 34.7% on average for 2026, and the number of Texans actually enrolled and paying fell from more than 3.4 million in February 2025 to under 3.3 million in February 2026 (source). More than half a million Texans didn't re-enroll for 2026 (source). For 2027, insurers proposed increases averaging about 13.1%, and Baylor Scott & White and Cigna are leaving the Marketplace (source).
There are alternatives. They aren't insurance, they don't suit everyone, and we'll say so plainly. For a healthy household that pays the full price, though, they can cost a lot less each month.
Illustrative example · October 2026
Single adult, age 35
$226.86 /month
Member only, oldest member 30–39, $1,000 Initial Unshareable Amount per Need, non-tobacco. Combined medical cost sharing + virtual primary care membership. Optional dental savings plan from $8.95/month. Not a quote; your amount depends on your household.
How it works
Three pieces, each with one job
Health sharing is built for big, unexpected medical bills, and it deliberately leaves out everyday care. Direct primary care is built for everyday care. A dental savings plan handles teeth. Put together, they handle most of what a household uses, but not everything.
Direct primary care
A flat monthly membership for a primary care team: sick visits, checkups, questions and follow-ups, without a copay each time.
Health care sharing
Members share eligible large medical bills (ER, surgery, hospital stays) after you pay your Initial Unshareable Amount for that Need. Not insurance, and not guaranteed.
Dental savings plan
An optional discount plan for reduced fees at participating dentists. Health sharing doesn't share routine dental costs.
1. Everyday care
A primary care membership gives you a doctor's team by video or phone for sick visits, questions, refills and follow-ups. Your monthly fee includes the visits, so there's no copay.
2. A big medical bill
For an ER visit, surgery or hospital stay, you pay up to your Initial Unshareable Amount (IUA) for that Need. You then submit the bills, and other members can share the eligible costs above it. There's no provider network.
3. What's left out
Routine dental, glasses, most ongoing prescriptions and regular therapy aren't shared. Pre-existing conditions are phased in over three years. We go through all of it before you decide.
How health sharing works in Texas → · Direct primary care in Texas →
Who we help
Self-employed
Contractors, trades, real-estate agents and owner-operators who pay for everything themselves.
Self-employed guide →Oilfield & contract workers
1099 crews, hitch schedules and paychecks that rise and fall with the rig count.
Oilfield & contract guide →The honest part: when insurance is the better choice
We don't sell insurance, so we have no reason to talk anyone out of it, or into it. Here's when a Marketplace plan through HealthCare.gov, or Texas Medicaid or CHIP, is usually the better answer:
- Your tax credit is large. At lower and middle incomes, a subsidized Marketplace plan can cost less than any alternative. Check at HealthCare.gov.
- You may qualify for Medicaid or CHIP. Texas didn't expand Medicaid, so adults without children don't qualify, but children, pregnant women and some very-low-income parents and disabled adults do. Check before paying for anything.
- Someone has a serious ongoing condition. Health sharing shares nothing for pre-existing conditions in year one. Insurance must cover them.
- A baby is on the way, or planned. Maternity is shareable only when the due date is at least nine months after you join.
- You need regular therapy. Counseling is capped at $750 a year.
- You want a guarantee. Sharing is voluntary. If you need a contract that has to pay, buy insurance.
If any of these fit, we'll tell you and point you to HealthCare.gov or a licensed agent. The comparison is still free.
What it costs
Real monthly prices for the pairing we most often recommend, as of October 2026. The amount depends on household size, the oldest member's age and the IUA you choose, not your income.
| Household (oldest member) | $2,500 IUA | $1,000 IUA |
|---|---|---|
| Single, under 30 | $167.52 | $205.36 |
| Single, 40–49 | $196.76 | $242.34 |
| Couple, 50–59 | $596.56 | $726.42 |
| Family, 30–39 | $633.60 | $784.96 |
Combined medical cost sharing + virtual primary care membership, non-tobacco. Optional dental savings plan from $8.95/month. Examples only, not quotes. Full table and how to choose an IUA →
Where we help in Texas
We work with households statewide by phone and video, from Texarkana to El Paso and from Amarillo to Brownsville. Each regional guide lists its cities, the main hospitals and what's different about getting care there.
Outline simplified. Tap a region's city to open its guide.
Dallas–Fort Worth
Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington and Grand Prairie, Plano, Frisco and McKinney, Irving and Grapevine, Denton, Mesquite and Garland
Houston & the Gulf Coast
Houston, Katy and Sugar Land, The Woodlands and Conroe, Pearland and League City, Pasadena and Baytown, Galveston, Beaumont and Port Arthur
Austin & Central Texas
Austin, Round Rock and Georgetown, San Marcos and Kyle, Killeen and Harker Heights, Temple, Waco, Bryan and College Station
San Antonio & the Hill Country
San Antonio, New Braunfels, Boerne, Seguin, Kerrville, Fredericksburg
South Texas & the Rio Grande Valley
Corpus Christi, Laredo, McAllen, Edinburg and Mission, Harlingen, Brownsville, Kingsville and Alice
West Texas & El Paso
El Paso, Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Abilene, Big Spring and Pecos
the Panhandle & South Plains
Amarillo, Canyon, Lubbock, Plainview, Wichita Falls, Dumas, Hereford and Pampa
East Texas
Tyler, Longview, Texarkana, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Marshall
How a conversation with us works
Tell us about your household
Who needs care, ages, what you pay now and what you want to fix. Keep medical details general.
See the full-year cost
Monthly amounts plus what you'd pay yourself in a bad year, next to what insurance would cost you.
Go through the limits
Pre-existing conditions, maternity, prescriptions and anything else that could matter to you.
Decide in your own time
Read the written guidelines before you join anything. No pressure and no cost.
Common questions
Is this health insurance?
No. Direct primary care, health care sharing and discount plans are alternatives to insurance. Health sharing is voluntary and not guaranteed, and it isn't Minimum Essential Coverage. Texas has no state penalty for going without insurance.
How much does it cost in Texas?
As of October 2026, the pairing we most often recommend (medical cost sharing plus virtual primary care) starts at $167.52 a month for a single adult under 30 and is $844.30 a month for a family whose oldest member is 50 to 59, at a $2,500 Initial Unshareable Amount. See the full price table.
What about pre-existing conditions?
Nobody is turned away for their health, but conditions you've had in the 36 months before joining are phased in: nothing shared in year one, up to $25,000 in year two, up to $50,000 in year three, then fully shareable. If you need an ongoing condition paid for now, an ACA plan is usually the better choice.
Who should stay on insurance?
People with a tax credit that makes an ACA plan cheap, anyone with a serious ongoing condition, anyone planning a pregnancy in the next nine months, and anyone who needs regular therapy. We'll tell you if that's you.
When can I start?
Health sharing has no open-enrollment window, so you can start on the first of any month. Marketplace open enrollment for 2027 plans runs November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027; enroll by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1.
Who will I talk to?
A real advisor who explains the options by phone. We don't sell insurance, and there's no cost to talk.
Sources
- Texas Marketplace guide: 2026 and proposed 2027 rates, insurers, enrollment, open enrollment (healthinsurance.org, updated Aug 27, 2026)
- 'It doesn't have to be like this': Thousands of Texans lost health insurance this year (NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Sep 14, 2026)
- Texas Insurance Code ch. 1681, health care sharing ministries (§ 1681.001 criteria, § 1681.002 notice)
- Texas Occupations Code § 162.253, direct primary care is not insurance
- Sedera + Akos MD combined monthly price schedule, October 2026 (provided by the programs)
Want to see what this would cost your household?
Tell us who needs care and what you pay now. We'll walk you through the options, including when insurance is the better fit.
Free, no obligation. Texas households only.