Health coverage when you do not have an employer plan

What we compare

ACA plans — on and off exchange

Guaranteed issue with no medical underwriting, essential health benefits, and premium tax credits for households that qualify on income. If you qualify for a meaningful subsidy, this is almost always the right answer and we will tell you so plainly.

Short term medical

Temporary coverage, medically underwritten, usually far cheaper than unsubsidized ACA premiums. It can decline you for health history, commonly excludes pre-existing conditions, and is not major medical. Genuinely useful for a healthy person bridging a gap; wrong for most other situations.

Multi-year underwritten medical

Longer-duration underwritten plans that behave more like traditional major medical and can run up to around three years depending on state. Available only to people who pass underwriting, and still not ACA coverage.

Fixed indemnity and limited benefit

Plans that pay set amounts per service rather than a share of the actual bill. These have a place as a supplement. They are not a health plan, and the gap between a benefit schedule and a real hospital invoice can be very large.

Supplemental and ancillary

Accident, hospital indemnity, critical illness, dental and vision. Available year-round, and they sit alongside whatever coverage you already have rather than replacing it.

Not everything on this list is major medical coverage, and we will always say which category a plan falls into before anything else about it.

What actually determines your cost

• Household income relative to subsidy thresholds — the single biggest factor for most families
• Where you live, down to the county rating area
• Ages of everyone being covered
• Whether you or your family use tobacco
• Metal tier and how the plan splits deductible, copays and out-of-pocket maximum
• Whether your doctors and prescriptions are in network and on formulary

We check your specific doctors and prescriptions against a plan before recommending it. That step is skipped more often than it should be.

The plans we actually place, in detail

Most broker sites stop at plan categories. Below is the specific product detail, because the differences between designs are where the money actually is — and because you should be able to see the limits before you talk to anyone.

Everything in this section other than ACA marketplace coverage is either short term limited duration or limited benefit. Neither is comprehensive major medical. Availability varies by state.

TriTerm Medical — short term, medically underwritten

UnitedHealthcare / Golden Rule. Runs up to about three years through three consecutive terms, the first 364 days and each subsequent term 365 days. Medically underwritten, so it can decline you, and no benefits are paid during the first 12 months for a condition that existed before the effective date. This is short term limited duration coverage, not ACA major medical.

TriTerm designs — Value, Copay Select Max, Plan 80 Max, Plan 100 Max

Value runs deductibles from $2,500 to $15,000 with 30% or 50% coinsurance and a $10,000 out-of-pocket maximum. Copay Select Max runs $2,500 to $12,500 with 30% coinsurance, a $4,500 out-of-pocket maximum, and the first four office visits at a $50 copay. Plan 80 Max runs $2,500 to $12,500 with 20% coinsurance and a $2,000 out-of-pocket maximum. Plan 100 Max runs $5,000 to $12,500, pays 0% coinsurance after the deductible, and carries no out-of-pocket maximum above it. Lower premium generally means more of a bad year lands on you.

Health ProtectorGuard — fixed indemnity

Pays stated amounts per service according to a benefit schedule rather than a share of the bill, and uses the UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus network so negotiated discounts apply on top. $2,000,000 calendar year maximum and $5,000,000 lifetime maximum per covered person, with no waiting period. This is a limited benefit product. The gap between a benefit schedule and an actual hospital invoice can be very large, and it is not a substitute for major medical coverage.

AccidentWise — accident benefits

Three designs, 10000 / 15000 / 20000. Hospital admission pays $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000. Emergency room treatment pays $1,000, $1,500 or $2,000. Urgent care pays $200, $300 or $400. Major diagnostic exam pays $1,000, $1,500 or $2,000. Follow-up and physical therapy pay $100, $150 or $200 per visit. Outpatient surgery pays $1,000, $1,500 or $2,000. Accidental loss of life, limb or sight pays $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000. Benefits are paid to you, not to the provider.

CriticalGuard — critical illness lump sum

Configurable cancer, heart and stroke coverage paying a lump sum on first diagnosis of a covered condition. A 30-day waiting period typically applies. Designed to cover what happens to income and household costs when someone stops working, rather than to pay the medical bill itself.

DentalWise Max — dental

Three designs, 1000 / 2000 / 3000, with a $100 deductible across all of them and matching annual maximums of $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000. Preventive care is covered at 100% with no deductible. Basic services pay 60% in year one and 80% from year two. Major services pay 15% in year one and 50% from year two. Implants are not covered on Plan 1000, and on Plans 2000 and 3000 they pay 50% after the deductible with a 12-month waiting period.

Benefit schedules, availability and underwriting rules vary by state and change over time. These figures are current as of September 2026. The policy and certificate govern in every case; brochures and this page are summaries.

Things worth knowing before you shop

• Open enrollment has deadlines; outside of it you generally need a qualifying life event such as losing coverage, moving, marriage or a birth
• Some non-ACA products are not major medical coverage and may exclude pre-existing conditions or cap benefits — read what a plan does not cover, not only what it does
• The lowest premium and the lowest total annual cost are frequently different plans
• If you are self-employed, health insurance premiums may be deductible; confirm treatment with your tax professional