To qualify for health coverage through the Texas Marketplace, you must:

• Live in Texas
• Be lawfully present in the United States
• Not be incarcerated
• Not be enrolled in Medicare

Eligibility for financial assistance (premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions) depends on your income. In addition, to qualify for financial assistance with the cost of your Marketplace plan you must:

• Not have access to affordable health coverage offered by an employer. If your employer offers coverage but you feel it’s too expensive, you can use our Employer Health Plan Affordability Calculator to see if you might qualify for premium subsidies in the Marketplace.
• Not be eligible for Medicaid or CHIP.
• Not be eligible for premium-free Medicare Part A.[efn_note]Medicare and the Marketplace, Master FAQ. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Accessed Dec. 28, 2025[/efn_note]
• If married, file a joint tax return.[efn_note]Premium Tax Credit — The Basics. Internal Revenue Service. Accessed Dec. 28, 2025[/efn_note]
• Not be able to be claimed by someone else as a tax dependent.[efn_note]Premium Tax Credit — The Basics. Internal Revenue Service. Accessed Dec. 28, 2025[/efn_note]

To enroll in an ACA Marketplace plan in Texas, you can:

• Visit HealthCare.gov, the Texas health insurance marketplace.

• Purchase individual and family health coverage with the help of an insurance agent or broker, a Navigator or certified application counselor, or an approved enhanced direct enrollment entity.[efn_note]“Entities Approved to Use Enhanced Direct Enrollment” CMS.gov. Dec. 9, 2025[/efn_note]

• Get a quote from a licensed third-party agency using the quoting feature below. 

• Talk directly with a licensed third-party agent or broker at 866-553-3223

You can also call HealthCare.gov’s contact center by dialing 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325). The call center is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but it’s closed on holidays.

The Texas individual/family Marketplace has 16 participating insurers offering coverage for 2026 (coverage areas differ from one insurer to another). This is the same as 2025, but with some changes: Aetna is no longer offering coverage after the end of 2025 (as is the case in all states where Aetna offered Marketplace coverage in 2025), and Harbor Health joined the Texas Marketplace for 2026.[efn_note]"Texas Rate Review Submissions" RateReview.HealthCare.gov. And "SERFF Filing number HHIC-134520793" Texas SERFF. Accessed Aug. 30, 2025[/efn_note] Enrollees with 2025 Aetna coverage were able to select a new plan during the open enrollment period that began November 1, 2025. There was a similar change for 2025, when the number of participating insurers stayed at 16,[efn_note]"Texas Rate Review Submissions" RateReview.HealthCare.gov. Accessed Dec. 4, 2024[/efn_note] but there was one newcomer (Wellpoint)[efn_note]"Wellpoint expanding healthcare coverage in your market for 2025 plan year" Wellpoint Provider News. Sep. 17, 2024[/efn_note] and one carrier that exited at the end of 2024 (Ascension/U.S. Health & Life).[efn_note]"Ascension will stop offering health insurance plans in Texas" Kut News. June 27, 2024[/efn_note] In most Texas counties, at least three insurers offered health plans on the exchange in 2025, although some counties in the north-central part of the state only had plans available from one insurer. But there were also numerous counties where five or more insurers offer Marketplace plans.[efn_note]Plan Year 2025 Qualified Health Plan Choice and Premiums in HealthCare.gov Marketplaces. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oct. 25, 2024[/efn_note] As of late 2025, neither CMS nor the Texas Department of Insurance had published a Marketplace coverage area map for 2026. But the HealthCare.gov plan comparison tool confirmed that there are still several counties in north-central Texas where Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas is the only insurer offering plans for 2026.[efn_note]"See Plans & Prices" (zip codes 79252, 79248, 76384, 76380, 76310, 76308, 76305) HealthCare.gov. Accessed Dec. 28, 2025[/efn_note]