If you qualify for a subsidy
Get Covered Illinois is the most affordable coverage available, full stop. Medicaid is expanded in Illinois.
If you don't
Full-price marketplace plans are the most expensive coverage in Illinois. For healthy people, private PPOs on Cigna, Aetna and PHCS PPO are routinely 30–50% less. Illinois has no state individual mandate.
What's not affordable
Health-sharing ministries and indemnity plans look cheap until you have a claim. Ask for the out-of-pocket maximum; if there isn't one, it isn't insurance.
Illinois moved to its own state-run marketplace, Get Covered Illinois, for 2026 coverage, and Chicago-area marketplace plans are heavily HMO — one reason suburban business owners look at national PPOs.