Most people who type “CareSource” into a search box are trying to log in, not shop. That is worth saying out loud, because CareSource is unusual: the majority of the people carrying a CareSource card did not buy it. They were assigned it, or picked it, through a state Medicaid program.
That shapes everything about how the company behaves in the individual market, what it charges, and whether it is a sensible plan for you to buy in 2026. This guide uses CMS’s own 2026 filing data, CMS Medicaid enrollment data, and CareSource’s own published notices. Every dollar figure below is a full unsubsidized premium for the 2026 plan year, before any tax credit.
What Is CareSource
CareSource describes itself as “a national, nonprofit managed care organization serving over 2 million members in 12 states,” founded in 1989, and says it administers one of the largest Medicaid managed care plans in the country. Its plans directory lists eleven states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The product mix differs sharply by state. Some states get Medicaid only, some get Marketplace only, and a few get both.
The scale gap between those two lines is enormous. CMS managed care data for 2024 shows CareSource with 1,191,420 members in Ohio’s Medicaid managed care program, roughly 45% of that program’s 2,633,788 enrollees and more than three times the next-largest Ohio plan. It holds another 376,721 in Georgia Families, 81,678 in the Healthy Indiana Plan, 73,087 in Hoosier Healthwise, and smaller books through HAP CareSource in Michigan and CareSource PASSE in Arkansas.
Now compare that to the Marketplace. CMS issuer-level data for 2025 puts CareSource’s average monthly enrollment at 55,713 in Indiana, 45,344 in Wisconsin, 43,401 in Ohio and 14,290 in West Virginia. Its entire individual book across those four states is about one seventh of its Ohio Medicaid book alone.
If you qualify for Medicaid, what Medicaid covers and the 2026 Medicaid income limits matter far more to you than any premium on this page, and keeping up with Medicaid renewal matters more still.
How CareSource Marketplace Plans Work
CareSource sells HMO plans in Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia and EPO plans in Wisconsin, where it operates as CareSource (Common Ground Healthcare) after acquiring that nonprofit co-op. Both structures lock you to a network. Going outside it generally means paying the whole bill, which is why the in-network versus out-of-network distinction is the first thing to check.
The 2026 filings show 83 individual plan IDs in those four states: 22 in Indiana, 21 in Ohio, 22 in West Virginia and 18 in Wisconsin. The metal lineup is bronze, silver, gold and, in Indiana and West Virginia only, platinum. Platinum is scarce across the individual market generally, so a nonprofit offering it at all is unusual. CareSource also files vision-and-fitness variants of several of its bronze, silver and gold designs, so two plans with nearly the same name can differ by an added benefit rather than by cost sharing.
CareSource publishes no prices anywhere in its plans directory. Every state page describes benefits and then routes you to an enrollment portal for pricing. That is standard for this market, and it is why the CMS filing data below is the only honest way to show a range.
What CareSource Costs in 2026
These are full monthly premiums for a 40-year-old non-smoker in the 2026 plan year, drawn from CMS’s Exchange Rate and Plan Attributes Public Use Files, which CMS says were last imported to its systems by August 4, 2026. They cover 83 individual CareSource plan IDs across Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Georgia, Kentucky and Nevada run their own exchanges and are not in this file, so treat these as the federal-platform footprint, not the whole company.
| 2026 metal level | Cheapest | Median | Most expensive | Deductible range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze (expanded) | $433.51 | $524.17 | $930.55 | $0 to $10,600 |
| Silver | $531.93 | $646.45 | $1,219.62 | $4,700 to $6,200 |
| Gold | $617.29 | $915.75 | $1,234.63 | $0 to $3,300 |
| Platinum | $1,035.85 | $1,212.34 | $1,989.48 | $0 |
| All CareSource plans | $433.51 | $786.30 | $1,989.48 |
Two things that table hides.
Geography swamps metal level. The Wisconsin book, filed as CareSource (Common Ground Healthcare), runs $447.76 to $885.75 with a median of $613.77. The Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia book runs $433.51 to $1,989.48 with a median of $806.22. West Virginia is the outlier at the top: its cheapest bronze plan, at $698.21, costs more than a median Wisconsin gold plan.
Silver deductibles are high before cost-sharing reductions. CareSource silver deductibles sit between $4,700 and $6,200, with out-of-pocket maximums as high as $10,600, the federal ceiling for 2026. If your income qualifies you for cost-sharing reductions, those numbers change completely: the 94% actuarial value silver variants CareSource filed carry deductibles of $0 to $700 and out-of-pocket maximums of $700 to $2,200. CSRs only attach to silver plans, so buying bronze to save on premium can be an expensive mistake at low incomes.
One more piece of context that applies to every carrier on this list. The enhanced premium tax credits that ran from 2021 through 2025 expired at the end of 2025 and, as of September 2026, have not been restored. KFF estimates that raised what subsidized enrollees pay by about 114% on average, roughly $1,016 a year. See what the subsidy expiration changed and the current subsidy income limits before you judge any premium above.
Is CareSource Good Insurance?
CMS scores Marketplace plans on a 1 to 5 star scale covering medical care, member experience and plan administration. In the PY2026 Quality Rating System nationwide file, CareSource has four rated products:
| CareSource product | Overall stars | Medical care | Member experience | Plan administration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin (Common Ground, EPO) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Indiana (HMO) | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Ohio (HMO) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| West Virginia (HMO) | 2 | 2 | not reported | 3 |
Across 298 rated products nationally, the mean is 3.41 stars and the median is 3. CareSource’s four average 3.25, so as a group it sits slightly below the national middle, with a wide spread between Wisconsin and West Virginia. The member experience scores are its strongest suit, which is consistent with a company built around Medicaid service operations.
Who Should Buy It and Who Should Skip It
Consider CareSource if you live in Wisconsin, where its premiums are the lowest of its four federal-platform states and its 4-star product is the best-rated in the group, or if you are moving off Medicaid onto a Marketplace plan in a state where CareSource runs both. Continuity of network and case management is a real, if unglamorous, advantage there. It is also worth a look if you want a platinum plan, which most competitors do not offer.
Skip it if you live in Ohio, West Virginia or Indiana and you are shopping for 2027. CareSource’s own notifications page states plainly that it will not offer Marketplace plans in those three states for the 2027 plan year, and instructs current members to select a new insurer during open enrollment. Existing 2026 coverage runs through December 31, 2026. Buying a 2026 CareSource plan in those states means shopping again a year later, so at minimum know that going in and mark when open enrollment runs.
Also skip it if you need a broad or national network. These are HMO and EPO products with no meaningful out-of-network benefit. If your specialists sit outside the network, a PPO from another carrier will serve you better, and the HMO versus PPO tradeoff is worth ten minutes before you enroll.
CareSource vs. the Other Medicaid-Rooted Carriers
CareSource is not alone in this model. Molina Healthcare and Centene’s Ambetter plans follow the same playbook: build a narrow, low-cost network on Medicaid economics, then sell it on the exchange to people who churn between Medicaid and subsidized Marketplace coverage. Ambetter out-enrolls CareSource in the states where they overlap, averaging 125,677 members in Indiana and 113,241 in Ohio in 2025 against CareSource’s 55,713 and 43,401. Where CareSource differs is that it is a nonprofit, and its Medicaid share in Ohio is dominant in a way none of the others match in any single state.
Against a legacy Blues plan like Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the trade is the usual one. CareSource is generally cheaper at the bronze and silver level and narrower. Anthem is broader and pricier. In Ohio, Anthem’s 2025 average monthly enrollment of 86,803 was double CareSource’s 43,401 despite CareSource’s overwhelming Medicaid lead in the same state, which tells you something about how buyers weigh network breadth when they are spending their own money.
The Bottom Line
CareSource is a competent, mid-priced, narrow-network nonprofit that is very good at Medicaid and comparatively small on the exchange. For 2026 its Marketplace plans run $434 to $1,989 a month unsubsidized for a 40-year-old, with a median of $786, and its quality ratings land just under the national average with Wisconsin at the top and West Virginia at the bottom. The single most important fact for anyone shopping today is the 2027 exit from Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana. If you are in one of those three states, treat a 2026 CareSource plan as a one-year decision. If you land in a coverage gap while you sort that out, health insurance options when you are unemployed covers the alternatives.