Florida is one of the biggest, busiest health insurance markets in the country. More people enroll through the federal Marketplace here than in any other state, our Medicare population is second only to California, and our small businesses employ millions. That is good news for you, lots of competition means lots of choices, but it also means the shelf is crowded. This guide is the map.
The four doors into Florida coverage
Nearly every Floridian gets covered through one of four doors, and knowing which one is yours cuts the confusion in half.
- The Marketplace (ACA)for individuals and families who do not get insurance through work. Plans are sold by county, premiums are offset by income-based subsidies, and nobody can be turned down for a pre-existing condition.
- Medicarefor Floridians 65 and up (and some younger folks with disabilities). Original Medicare plus a Supplement, or an all-in-one Medicare Advantage plan. Florida has some of the strongest Advantage networks in the country.
- Group coveragethrough an employer. If you run a business with 2 to 50 employees, Florida small-group plans are more affordable than most owners assume.
- Everything else·short-term plans to bridge a gap, dental and vision, hospital and accident policies, and HSA-compatible plans that turn a high deductible into a tax strategy.
What coverage actually costs here
Florida prices vary more by county than most people expect, because carriers negotiate with different hospital systems in each one. A 40-year-old in Palm Beach County might see mid-tier Marketplace plans in the 450 to 600 dollar range before subsidies, and after subsidies, most enrollees pay far less. Most Florida Marketplace enrollees still qualify for some help, though the extra assistance that ran from 2021 ended on 31 December 2025, so the amounts are smaller than they were and what you pay depends heavily on your income. On the Medicare side, dozens of Advantage plans in South Florida carry a 0 dollar premium.
Networks: the Florida-specific trap
Our hospital systems are regional. Baptist Health dominates South Florida, AdventHealth owns Orlando, Cleveland Clinic anchors Weston. A plan that looks great on paper can exclude the hospital ten minutes from your house. Before you enroll in anything, check that your doctors, your hospital, and your prescriptions are in the network, all three, every year, because networks change every January.
When you can enroll
Marketplace open enrollment opens November 1, with December 15 the date that guarantees cover from January 1. Medicare has its own windows, a 7-month enrollment period around your 65th birthday, and an annual October 15 to December 7 season for changing plans. Outside those windows, life events like moving to Florida, losing job coverage, getting married, or having a baby open a 60-day special enrollment period. If you just moved here: that counts. Welcome, and call us.
How to actually choose
Start with your doctors, not the price. List the physicians and medications you will not give up, eliminate every plan that excludes them, and only then compare costs among what is left. It is a ten-minute exercise that prevents the single most common, and most painful, insurance mistake we see. And if you would rather have a licensed Florida broker do that comparison for you, that service costs you nothing. Broker compensation comes from the carriers, and the price of the plan is identical either way.