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, processing them through our ETL pipeline, 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

PlainHealthPlan is not affiliated with CMS, HealthCare.gov, any state marketplace, or any government agency or insurance company. We are an independent data portal providing public information in a more accessible format. We receive no compensation from insurance carriers, brokers, or navigators.

Editorial Independence

PlainHealthPlan is built from a single official source: the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) Health Insurance Marketplace Public Use Files. Those federal records are transformed into readable county, issuer and plan profiles by an automated data pipeline and checked against the source files on each refresh. PlainHealthPlan, is responsible for the methodology behind that pipeline and for publishing corrections when an error is found.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from providers, hospitals, manufacturers, or any healthcare entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Limitations and Disclaimers

PlainHealthPlan is an informational resource, and users should understand several important limitations of the data we present.

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

Questions, corrections, or feedback? We welcome hearing 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. We verify all reports against the original CMS Public Use Files.