ICHRA in Texas.
The ICHRA itself is federal: a fixed, tax-free monthly allowance your employees use to buy their own individual plans. What's local is the market underneath it. Here is what that market looks like in Texas.
The Texas market underneath it.
Texas has one of the largest individual insurance markets in the country, spread across 254 counties and 27 rating areas, with metro markets like Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio each carrying deep carrier competition. Texans buy marketplace plans on HealthCare.gov, the federal exchange.
Where employees buy plans
HealthCare.gov (the federal exchange), or directly from carriers off-exchange.
How premiums are set
Premiums vary by age (up to a 3:1 ratio), by rating area, and by tobacco use. The same plan can price very differently in Dallas than in El Paso, so a Texas ICHRA budget should be computed from your actual ZIP codes, not a statewide average.
What we price here
Every individual plan in our live 2026 artifact for Texas: 254 counties across 27 rating areas, from government rate filings.
2027 Open Enrollment
Texans buy 2027 plans on HealthCare.gov November 1, 2026 – January 15, 2027; enroll by December 15, 2026 for coverage starting January 1. (A federal rule that would have shortened the window was vacated by a federal court in June 2026; an appeal is pending.)
Legislation watch
No ICHRA tax credit is on the books. SB 1949 (2025), a sales-and-use-tax refund or franchise-tax credit of $400 per covered individual for small employers funding an ICHRA, died in committee when the session adjourned in June 2025. As of August 2026, nothing ICHRA-specific is pending.
Texas questions.
Is an ICHRA legal in Texas?
Yes. The ICHRA is a federal arrangement under a 2019 federal rule (effective January 1, 2020) and works the same way in every state, including Texas. What varies locally is the individual insurance market your employees buy from.
Why do Texas ICHRA budgets depend so much on ZIP code?
Texas has 27 rating areas, and carriers price the same plan differently across them. An allowance computed for a Houston team can be wrong for the same team in Lubbock, which is why we price from your actual census, not a state average.
See your Texas team's number.
Insurf, Inc. is not a licensed insurance agency and does not sell insurance; enrollment support is provided by an individually licensed insurance producer, who may be compensated by carrier commissions when an enrollment occurs — that compensation is disclosed on estimates. This page is an educational overview: not an offer of coverage, not a recommendation to buy any plan, and not financial, tax, legal, medical, coverage, or insurance advice.