Minnesota health insurance, explained
Health insurance for the self-employed in Minnesota
If you work for yourself in Minnesota — a contractor, a consultant, a stylist with a chair, an artist, a farmer, an owner with no employees — you buy health insurance the same way anyone without a job-based plan does: through MNsure, the state's marketplace, or directly from a carrier. The plans and the prices are the same in both places. The difference is that MNsure is the only place the state's help with premiums is applied, and for most self-employed households the size of that help comes down to one estimate: what you expect to earn this year.
Estimating an income that changes every month
MNsure's tax credit is paid in advance against your best estimate of the year's household income — for the self-employed, that means net profit after business expenses, plus anything else the household earns, not gross receipts. You update the estimate whenever things change, and it is squared up on your tax return.
Estimating honestly matters more now than it did. The enhanced credits that ran from 2021 through 2025 expired, so for 2026 coverage the credit ends at 400% of the federal poverty level — $62,600 for one person, $128,600 for a family of four — and a year that ends above the estimate means repaying the difference at tax time. A good year is a good problem, but it is one to see coming.
The self-employed health insurance deduction
Premiums you pay for yourself, your spouse and your dependents are generally deductible as an adjustment to income when you have self-employment profit and are not eligible for a plan through an employer — yours or a spouse's. It is an above-the-line deduction, so it counts whether or not you itemize.
If you also receive a MNsure tax credit, the deduction applies to the share of the premium you actually paid, and the two are worked out together on the return. Your tax preparer will know the calculation; what helps them is a clean record of what you paid each month.
MNsure or straight from a carrier?
If your household is under the cap, MNsure — that is where the credit lives, and the same plan costs the same there as anywhere else. If you are comfortably over it, compare everything: the MNsure plans and the ones carriers sell only directly. That comparison is what we do, and it costs you nothing.
HSA plans and the self-employed
Many self-employed people pair a high-deductible plan with a Health Savings Account: the premium is lower, the contribution is deductible, and the money is yours if you do not spend it. For 2026 the limits are $4,400 for one person and $8,750 for a family, plus $1,000 from age 55. Our HSA guide goes through when that trade works and when it does not.
When you can enroll
Open enrollment for next year runs November 1 to January 15; enroll by December 15 for coverage on January 1. Outside that window you need a qualifying event — losing other coverage, a move, a marriage, a baby — and you get 60 days from it. Starting a business is not, by itself, a qualifying event; leaving the job that had your coverage is.
Questions we get about this
Do I need an LLC or an S-corp to buy health insurance as a self-employed person?
No. A sole proprietor with a Schedule C buys the same plans as anyone else. The business structure mostly matters for the deduction and, if you have employees, for whether a group plan makes sense.
What income does MNsure count for a self-employed household?
Modified adjusted gross income for the household: net self-employment profit after expenses, wages from any job, Social Security (including the non-taxable part), unemployment, interest and dividends, and most retirement withdrawals. Not gross sales, and not loans or gifts.
Can I take the premium deduction and get a MNsure tax credit in the same year?
Yes. The deduction applies to the part of the premium you paid yourself, net of the credit. The two are calculated together on your return.
My income jumped halfway through the year. What do I do?
Update your estimate with MNsure as soon as you know. The advance credit adjusts for the rest of the year, which keeps the amount you owe back at tax time small. Waiting until the return is where people get hurt.
Does it cost anything to have you help with this?
No. We are certified MNsure brokers and independent; the carriers pay us, and the price of a plan is the same whether you enroll with us or on your own.
Ask us the version that is about you.
Pat or Spencer reads every request personally. Certified MNsure brokers, independent since 1986, and there is no charge for the conversation.