Nevada Health Insurance Marketplace Guide

To sign up for private health coverage through Nevada Health Link, you must:⁵

• Live in Nevada
• Be lawfully present in the United States
• Not be incarcerated
• Not be enrolled in Medicare⁶

By those rules, most Nevada residents qualify to use the exchange. But a bigger question for most people is financial assistance, and there are a few additional parameters to be eligible for subsidies in Nevada’s exchange. 

To qualify for income-based Advance Premium Tax Credits (APTC) or cost-sharing reductions (CSR), you must:⁷

• Not have access to affordable health coverage through an employer. If you have access to an employer’s plan but it seems too expensive, you can use our Employer Health Plan Affordability Calculator to see if you might qualify for premium subsidies via Nevada Health Link. 
• Not be eligible for Medicaid or Check Up (CHIP).
• Not be eligible for premium-free Medicare Part A.⁸
• If married, file a joint tax return.⁹
• Not be able to be claimed by someone else as a tax dependent.⁹
• Starting in 2027, if you’re not a U.S. citizen, you’ll only be subsidy-eligible if you’re a lawful permanent resident (LPR), Cuban-Haitian entrant (CHE), or COFA migrant. All other immigration statuses will no longer be eligible for subsidies. ¹⁰

Beyond those basic parameters, qualifying for Nevada Health Link subsidies depends on your household income, which is an ACA-specific calculation of MAGI.

The open enrollment period for 2027 health coverage runs from November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027 in Nevada.¹¹

A federal rule change that called for a shorter open enrollment period was blocked by a judge and did not take effect.¹²

Outside of the annual open enrollment window, you may be eligible to enroll if you experience a qualifying life event, such as giving birth or losing other health coverage. Native Americans can enroll year-round, without a specific qualifying life event.

Enrollment in Nevada Medicaid/Check Up (CHIP) is available year-round.

A note about off-exchange enrollment: From 2014 through 2019, Nevada law required plans sold outside the exchange to be available for purchase year-round, with a waiting period of up to 90 days before the coverage would take effect. But Section 56 of Nevada SB482, enacted in 2019,¹³ eliminated the requirement that health plans be available year-round outside the exchange.

The law took effect October 1, 2019, bringing Nevada’s rules into line with the rest of the country: Both on-exchange and off-exchange, individual major medical plans can only be purchased outside of open enrollment if the applicant qualifies for a special enrollment period (most special enrollment periods are triggered by a qualifying life event).

To enroll in an ACA Marketplace/exchange plan in Nevada, you can: 

• Visit Nevada Health Link, which is Nevada’s health insurance exchange (another word for Marketplace). Nevada Health Link is an online platform where you can compare plans, determine whether you’re eligible for financial assistance, and enroll in the plan that best meets your needs. 
• Purchase Nevada Health Link coverage with the help of an insurance broker or navigator who is certified with the exchange.¹⁴
  

You can reach the Nevada Health Link call center by calling 1-800-547-2927, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides income-based subsidies that can help lower your premium payments each month. These subsidies are available to Nevada residents who meet the eligibility requirements and enroll in coverage through Nevada Health Link.

Of the more than 100,000 people who enrolled via Nevada Health Link during the open enrollment period for 2026 coverage, nearly 82% were receiving premium subsidies that reduced their health insurance premiums by an average of $516 per month. After subtracting subsidies, the average subsidy-eligible enrollee’s premium was about $148 per month.¹⁵

Source: CMS.gov¹⁵

If your household income is no more than 250% of the federal poverty level, you may also be eligible for cost-sharing reductions (CSR), which will reduce your deductible and other out-of-pocket expenses. These benefits are built into Silver-level plans if the applicant is eligible for them. Of the people who selected plans through Nevada Health Link during the open enrollment period for 2026 coverage, 46% were receiving CSR benefits.¹⁵

You can use both APTC and CSR benefits if you’re eligible for both and you select a Silver-level plan through Nevada Health Link (APTC can be used with plans at any metal level, but CSR benefits are only available on Silver plans).

Market Stabilization Program (Public Option) with reinsurance debuted for 2026

Nevada S.B.420, signed into law in June 2021,¹⁶ called for the state to create a public option health plan that would be available in the individual market as of 2026. The idea is to create premium reduction targets, similar to the approach that Colorado is using.

Gov. Lombardo, who took office in 2023, was critical of the public option approach, and worked to transform it into a “market stabilization program” instead. Under Lombardo’s plan, there is still a public option component, with a quality incentive payment program for insurers to prevent reimbursement cuts for medical providers due to the premium reduction targets. Lombardo’s plan also called for a reinsurance program that would use federal funding to reduce premiums in the individual market (Reinsurance programs were already in use in 17 other states; Nevada became the 18th as of 2026.).

In early 2025, Nevada received approval from CMS for a 1332 waiver for the reinsurance program and the Market Stabilization Program plans (Battle Born State Plans) both of which debuted for the 2026 plan year.¹⁷

Depending on your income and circumstances, you may be able to enroll in free or low-cost health coverage through Medicaid or Check Up (Nevada’s CHIP). Learn more about whether you might meet the criteria for Medicaid in Nevada.

Nine carriers are offering Marketplace plans in Nevada for 2027.² All nine also offered coverage in 2026:

• CareSource Nevada
• HMO Nevada (Anthem BCBS)
• Community Care Health Plans of Nevada (Anthem BCBS)
• Health Plan of Nevada
• SelectHealth
• Silver Summit
• Hometown Health Plan
• Imperial Insurance Companies
• Molina Healthcare of Nevada

For 2027 coverage, the following average rate changes were approved for the insurers that offer plans in Nevada’s Marketplace,¹⁸ amounting to an average rate increase of 18.8%¹⁹ before any subsidies are applied.

Source: Nevada Division of Insurance¹⁸

These average rate increases are for full-price plans, and most enrollees do not pay full price: As of 2026, 82% of Nevada Health Link enrollees were receiving premium subsidies that reduced their monthly payments.¹⁵

The subsidy amount differs for each enrollee and changes each year depending on the cost of the second-lowest-cost Silver plan relative to the enrollee’s household income. But becasue the American Rescue Plan/Inflation Reduction Act subsidy enhancements expired at the end of 2025, subsidies cover a smaller portion of enrollees’ premium in 2026 and future years, resulting in higher after-subsidy premiums.

For perspective on the impact of the expiration of the federal subsidy enhancements, here are examples of how premiums changed in Reno, Nevada, after Congress failed to extend the federal subsidy enhancements:²⁰

• 40-year-old earning $40,000:
  • Lowest-cost plan in 2025 was $62/month
  • Lowest-cost plan in 2026 is $176/month
• 60-year-old earning $63,000:
  • Lowest-cost plan in 2025 was $251/month
  • Lowest-cost plan in 2026 is $856/month (due to the subsidy cliff)

Here’s an overview of how average full-price premiums have changed over the years in Nevada’s individual/family market:

• 2015: Average increase of 4%.²¹
• 2016: Average increase of 9.6%.²²
• 2017: Average increase of 10.6%.²³
• 2018: Average increase of 38.2%.²⁴
• 2019: Average increase of 0.4%.²⁵
• 2020: Average increase of 1.7%.²⁶
• 2021: Average increase of 4.9%.²⁷
• 2022: Average increase of 4.1%.²⁸
• 2023: Average increase of 9.2%.²⁹
• 2024: Average increase of 2.8% (3.6% including off-exchange plans).³⁰
• 2025: Average increase of 7.3%³¹
• 2026: Average increase of 22.3%³²

104,286 people selected private plans through Nevada Health Link during the open enrollment period for 2026 coverage.³³

This was lower than the record-high enrollment the year before (see chart below). Most states experienced a decline in enrollment in 2026,³⁴ due to the expiration of federal subsidy enhancements at the end of 2025, and the resulting increase in premiums.

Source: 2014,³⁵ 2015,³⁶ 2016,³⁷ 2017,³⁸ 2018,³⁹ 2019,⁴⁰ 2020,⁴¹ 2021,⁴² 2022,⁴³ 2023,⁴⁴ 2024,⁴⁵ 2025⁴⁶ 2026¹⁵

Nevada Health Link: This is Nevada’s Marketplace, used to enroll in individual/family health plans and receive income-based subsidies. You can contact Nevada Health Link at 800-547-2927.

Nevada Department of Health and Human Services: The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) administers Medicaid and Check Up (CHIP), as well as other social services programs. You can reach Nevada DHHS by phone at (775) 684-4000 or by email at [email protected]

Nevada Division of Insurance: Regulates Nevada’s insurance industry, and assists consumers and businesses with insurance-related questions and concerns.

Nevada State Health Insurance Assistance Program: A local service for Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers. Provides information and assistance with questions related to Medicare eligibility, enrollment, and claims.