About PlainHealthPlan

Our Mission

PlainHealthPlan makes ACA marketplace health insurance data accessible and understandable for everyone. We believe that choosing a health plan is one of the most important financial decisions a family makes each year, yet the information needed to compare options across counties, metal levels, and insurers is buried in massive government datasets that most consumers never see.

Why we built PlainHealthPlan: the ACA marketplace serves millions of Americans, but the raw data that CMS publishes is designed for researchers and policy analysts, not for the individuals and families who actually need to choose plans. Our purpose is to transform those Public Use Files into searchable, county-level comparisons that show how premiums, plan availability, and issuer competition vary across the country.

We believe transparency in healthcare pricing leads to better marketplace decisions. When consumers can see how their county's premiums compare to neighboring areas, track how costs have changed over multiple plan years, and understand which issuers compete in their market, they can approach Open Marketplace period with the knowledge to evaluate their options effectively.

Our Data Sources

All data comes directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Insurance Marketplace Public Use Files (PUF). This is the official data source for all ACA marketplace plan and premium information:

• Qualified Health Plan (QHP) Landscape Dataset: Plan-level premium rates by age, metal level, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and copays for every ACA marketplace plan offered through HealthCare.gov
• County-Level Summaries: Average premiums, plan counts, issuer competition, and benchmark (second-lowest Silver) premiums for 2,055 US counties across 30 states
• Multi-Year Plan Data: Premium data spanning plan years 2022 through 2026, allowing trend analysis of how costs have changed over time
• Issuer Profiles: Coverage area, plan types offered, metal level distribution, and average premiums for 183 insurance carriers operating in the federal marketplace

We rely exclusively on the CMS PUF releases because they are the authoritative source for federal marketplace data. States that operate their own marketplaces (such as California, New York, and Colorado) publish their data separately and are not included in the CMS PUF, we clearly note this coverage limitation.

How We Process the Data

Our methodology involves downloading raw datasets from CMS and organizing them into searchable county, state, and issuer profiles. We load plan-year data from 2022 through 2026, covering 2,055 counties, 30 states, and 183 insurance issuers.

Premiums shown are base rates for a 27-year-old non-tobacco user, the CMS benchmark age used as the standard reference point across the industry. Actual consumer costs vary based on age (ACA allows 3:1 age rating), location, tobacco use, and subsidy eligibility. We organize plans by county and metal level (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) so users can compare options in their area.

Our data processing pipeline calculates county-level averages, identifies the benchmark plan (second-lowest-cost Silver) for each county, and builds multi-year trend comparisons that show how premiums and competition have changed. No plans are highlighted, recommended, or scored beyond what CMS publishes. We preserve the original CMS data categories and do not interpolate between published data points.

Data Currency

PlainHealthPlan currently displays premium data through plan year 2026, the most recent dataset available from CMS. The data also includes historical premiums for plan years 2022 through 2025, enabling year-over-year trend analysis.

CMS releases updated Marketplace PUF data annually before each Open Marketplace period period, typically in October. Our update schedule follows the CMS release cycle - we rebuild our database within two weeks of each new plan year dataset publication. All data pages display the specific plan year(s) so users always know the data freshness of the information they are viewing.

Not Affiliated

No government agency, state marketplace, or insurance company runs this site. CMS and HealthCare.gov have never reviewed or endorsed a single page of it. What you get instead is the raw federal filing turned into something a county resident can actually read. No carrier, broker, or navigator pays us a cent for that.

Editorial Independence

Every number on PlainHealthPlan traces back to one place: the CMS Health Insurance Marketplace Public Use Files. A pipeline we run ourselves turns those federal releases into county, issuer, and plan profiles, re-checking each figure against the source file on every refresh. When the pipeline gets something wrong, the editorial process behind PlainHealthPlan owns the fix and publishes it.

No provider, hospital, drug manufacturer, or other healthcare entity pays for coverage or a better placement here. This portal turns down that kind of sponsorship entirely. The only money changing hands is Google AdSense showing contextual ads next to the data, and AdSense has no say in which counties, issuers, or plans we write up or how we rank them.

Limitations and Disclaimers

Before you lean on anything below, know what this marketplace snapshot can and cannot tell you.

Premiums shown are base rates, not your actual cost. The rates displayed are for a 27-year-old non-tobacco user. Your actual premium depends on age (rates can be up to 3x higher for older adults under ACA age rating), tobacco use, county of residence, and Advanced Premium Tax Credit (APTC) subsidy eligibility. Most marketplace enrollees receive subsidies that significantly reduce their actual monthly cost.

Federal marketplace states only. PlainHealthPlan covers the 30 states that use HealthCare.gov for their marketplace. The 20 states (plus the District of Columbia) that operate their own state-based marketplaces, including DC Health Link, are not included in CMS PUF data. Residents of those states should check their state marketplace for plan and premium information.

Plan availability changes annually. Issuers enter and exit markets each year. A plan or issuer shown for a prior plan year may not be available in the current marketplace cycle. Always check HealthCare.gov during Open Marketplace period for current plan offerings in your county.

Cost-sharing details require plan-level review. While we display deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums where available, the full cost-sharing structure (copays, coinsurance, covered services, provider networks) requires reviewing the individual plan's Summary of Benefits and Coverage on HealthCare.gov.

This site is for informational purposes only and does not provide insurance, financial, or medical advice. Premiums shown are base rates and may not reflect your actual cost. Always visit HealthCare.gov or your state marketplace for official sign-up and pricing. Consult a licensed insurance agent or navigator for personalized guidance.

Contact

Found a plan year that looks off, or have a question about how a county's numbers were built? Reach out. We hear from consumers, health policy researchers, and insurance professionals. Email us at hello@plainhealthplan.com.

If you notice a data discrepancy, particularly in county-level premiums or issuer information, please include the specific county, state, and plan year via the corrections pathway. We verify all reports against the original CMS Public Use Files and log material fixes on the changelog.