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Affordable Health Insurance in Illinois: What Most People Don't Know
Five facts most Illinoisans learn the expensive way.
1. "Affordable" on the marketplace means subsidized
Get Covered Illinois prices are designed to be offset by the premium tax credit. Without it, you're paying the full cost of a guaranteed-issue pool.
2. There's a second market
Private shared-network plans on Cigna, Aetna and PHCS PPO price on health instead of income. For healthy people above the subsidy line they're often half the price, with a PPO.
3. Your doctor probably takes the PPO, not the HMO
National PPO networks are what most employer plans use. Many doctors in Chicago and Naperville are in the Cigna, Aetna and PHCS PPO network and not in the narrow marketplace HMOs.
4. You can enroll in a private plan any month
No waiting for November. Apply by the 20th, coverage on the 1st.
5. The deduction applies either way
Illinois has a flat 4.95% state income tax, so the self-employed premium deduction helps at both levels.
And one Illinois-specific thing
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.
Check your options to see what affordable actually looks like for your situation.