Florida is the biggest ACA Marketplace state in the country by a wide margin. CMS counted 4,538,772 plan selections in Florida for 2026, roughly a fifth of the 23 million nationwide and more than Texas. Florida Blue is the incumbent in that market, the only carrier selling in every county, and for 2026 it is also the most expensive at the top of its range.
That combination is what makes the price question hard to answer casually. Florida Blue will not quote you a premium without a ZIP code, and its own website carries no prices at all. What follows is built from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s approved 2026 rate tables and CMS’s 2026 Exchange filing data, so you can see the actual spread before you shop.
What Is Florida Blue
Florida Blue is the trade name for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. In regulatory filings it shows up as two separate companies, and the distinction matters more to your wallet than the marketing name does.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. files the EPO and PPO products. On healthcare.gov this appears as “Florida Blue (BlueCross BlueShield FL).”
Health Options, Inc. files the HMO products, and appears on healthcare.gov as “Florida Blue HMO.” It is a separate legal entity with its own rate filing, its own approved increase, and its own service area.
Both are large. CMS issuer-level data for 2025 shows average monthly enrollment of 796,596 for the HMO company and 329,069 for the EPO and PPO company, about 1.13 million people combined, or roughly 26% of Florida’s individual market. That is not the largest single issuer in the state, though. Ambetter Health, Centene’s brand, averaged 1,279,315 by itself in 2025. If you want the direct comparison, see our guides to Ambetter and to Oscar Health, both of which compete hard in Florida.
How Florida Blue’s Plans Work
Florida Blue sells four plan families to individuals, and picking among them is really picking a network width.
BlueOptions (PPO) is the widest. Florida Blue describes it as its largest provider network, statewide and abroad, with no referral needed to see a specialist and out-of-network benefits available.
BlueSelect (EPO) trades network for price: thousands of Florida doctors and hospitals at lower cost, no referral requirement, and some out-of-network coverage.
BlueCare (POS) puts a primary care doctor in charge of coordination and referrals, positioned as a middle ground between HMO and PPO.
myBlue (HMO) is the cheapest base option, with a dedicated primary care provider and the smallest network.
If those labels are unfamiliar, HMO versus PPO and in-network versus out-of-network explain what you actually give up at each step down.
What Florida Blue Costs in 2026
Two independent sources cover this, and they agree on the shape of the market.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation publishes approved average premiums per person for the 2026 plan year, computed on actual 2025 enrollment. The CMS Exchange Public Use Files, which CMS says were last imported by August 4, 2026, publish every filed rate by plan, rating area and age. The figures below are full monthly premiums for a 40-year-old non-smoker before any tax credit.
| 2026 figure | Florida Blue EPO / PPO | Florida Blue HMO |
|---|---|---|
| Regulator’s average premium per person, 2025 | $866 | $687 |
| Regulator’s average premium per person, 2026 | $1,144 | $905 |
| Approved average increase | 32.2% | 31.6% |
| Age-40 premium range, filed 2026 rates | $496.58 to $3,051.03 | $488.54 to $2,049.90 |
| Age-40 median, filed 2026 rates | $1,079.37 | $791.80 |
| Individual plan IDs filed for 2026 | 33 | 83 |
| Counties served, on and off exchange | 67 of 67 | 64 of 67 |
By metal level, across both companies, the 2026 age-40 range looks like this:
| Metal level | Cheapest | Median | Most expensive | Silver deductible range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | $488.54 | $704.92 | $1,261.31 | |
| Expanded bronze | $515.32 | $746.44 | $1,389.01 | |
| Silver | $640.75 | $813.39 | $2,203.26 | $2,800 to $9,500 |
| Gold | $748.46 | $1,127.82 | $2,253.55 | |
| Platinum | $980.43 | $1,518.33 | $3,051.03 |
Three things worth flagging.
The HMO side is dramatically cheaper. Its median plan is about $288 a month below the EPO and PPO side, roughly $3,450 a year. Same brand, same Blue card, different legal entity and a narrower network.
That $3,051.03 platinum plan is the single most expensive individual plan for a 40-year-old anywhere in CMS’s 2026 federal-platform file. The national median across 4,044 individual plans is about $692. Florida Blue’s combined median of $914.67 is well above it.
Silver deductibles are all over the map. Florida Blue silver plans carry deductibles from $2,800 to $9,500 with out-of-pocket maximums up to $10,150. If your income qualifies you for cost-sharing reductions, those silver plans get much better: the 94% actuarial value variants Florida Blue filed for 2026 carry deductibles of $0 to $50 and out-of-pocket maximums of $1,275 to $2,600. CSRs attach only to silver, which is why buying bronze at a low income is usually the wrong move.
Why 2026 Hurts More Than the Rate Filing Suggests
The approved increases above are gross premiums. What most Floridians actually pay is the net figure after a premium tax credit, and that number moved much harder.
The enhanced premium tax credits enacted in 2021 expired on December 31, 2025 and, as of September 2026, have not been restored. Florida Blue’s own consumer page states the expiration plainly and gives an example: a 40-year-old man in Miami-Dade County earning $22,590 could see his payment go from $0 a month in 2025 to $81 in 2026 for the same plan. Florida Blue also warns of two administrative changes for 2026, that anyone who underestimates income must repay 100% of the excess subsidy, and that you must have filed and reconciled your taxes using IRS Form 8962 for prior subsidy years to get a subsidy for 2026.
That reconciliation requirement is the one that catches people. If you have never dealt with it, read up on Form 1095-A and the subsidy expiration, and check the current income limits before you assume you still qualify.
Who Florida Blue Is Good For and Who Should Skip It
Buy it if you live somewhere only Florida Blue serves. The regulator’s county table shows Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida on and off exchange in all 67 counties, the only company in the state with that footprint. Several rural counties have only two or three issuers total. If you are in one of them, this is less a choice than a fact.
Buy it if you want a genuinely broad network and are willing to pay for it. BlueOptions PPO, which Florida Blue describes as its largest provider network with statewide coverage plus coverage abroad, has no referral requirement and real out-of-network benefits. Nothing else in the individual market here matches that reach.
Skip it if you are buying on price alone. Florida had 18 companies filing individual plans for 2026, and several of them, including Sunshine State Health Plan at an average of $828 and UnitedHealthcare of Florida at $775, came in below both Florida Blue entities. Compare against Molina Healthcare and Ambetter in your county before defaulting to the Blue card.
Look at the HMO first if you do stay. Unless you specifically need out-of-network benefits or care outside Florida, myBlue and the other Health Options products deliver the same brand at a materially lower price.
Florida Blue vs. the Rest of the Florida Market
The regulator approved a 34.1% weighted average increase across Florida’s whole individual market for 2026, so Florida Blue’s 31.6% and 32.2% are actually slightly better than the state average. The worst were Sunshine State Health Plan at 51.6% and Molina Healthcare of Florida at 43.6%.
On quality, CMS’s 2026 star ratings put both Florida Blue companies at 3 out of 5, against a national average of 3.41 across 298 rated products. Neither reported a member experience score. That is an unremarkable result for a market-leading incumbent, and it is worth weighing against the price: you are paying above the national median for a plan rated at the national median.
The Bottom Line
Florida Blue in 2026 costs $489 to $3,051 a month for a 40-year-old before subsidies, with a median of $915, after approved increases of about 32%. It is the only carrier available in all 67 counties and it holds about a quarter of the largest Marketplace in the country, but it is not the cheapest option in most places and its quality ratings are average. If you want the brand at a lower price, start with the HMO products. If a claim gets denied after you enroll, how to appeal a health insurance denial is worth bookmarking, and if a bill lands anyway, how to negotiate medical bills covers what to do next.