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How do I apply for Obamacare or Marketplace insurance?

What to have ready before you start, the four ways to apply, and the spots where applications most often go wrong.

Updated September 3, 2026 · 3 min read · by Gerino Alejos

Obamacare plans are sold through the marketplace, the government's health insurance store. You can apply online, by phone, with a licensed agent, or with a trained helper. The form takes about half an hour once your papers are ready.

What to gather first

• Names, birth dates and Social Security numbers for everyone on your tax return
• Immigration paper numbers for any member who is lawfully present and not a citizen
• Your estimate of what your household will earn during the coming year
• Recent pay stubs, or your profit and loss records if you work for yourself
• Your employer's name and phone number, plus any coverage they offer and what it costs
• Policy numbers for any coverage you have now
• Your doctors' names and your medicine list, for picking a plan afterward

See the full list of documents.

Four ways to apply

• Online at HealthCare.gov, which is the fastest route
• By phone with the marketplace call center, open around the clock during open enrollment, the yearly sign up window
• With a licensed agent, at no added cost to you
• With a certified navigator or assister, a trained helper who can work the form with you but cannot recommend a plan

Texas uses the federal marketplace. There is no separate state exchange to look for.

Where applications go wrong

1. Income estimate. Report what you expect to earn during the coverage year, not last year's income. If you work for yourself, use income after expenses.
2. Household definition. Count everyone on your tax return, even the people who will not be on the plan. This is the error we see most.
3. Employer coverage questions. Say exactly what your job offers. An affordable offer usually rules out a premium tax credit, the discount that lowers your monthly bill.
4. Document requests. The marketplace often asks you to prove income, identity or immigration status. Send it in quickly, because missing the deadline can end your coverage.
5. Picking on price alone. The plan with the lowest monthly bill usually carries the highest deductible, the amount you pay yourself before the plan starts paying.

Choosing the plan

Once the marketplace decides what you qualify for, you pick a plan. Look at these in order.

1. Are your doctors in the network, the list of doctors and hospitals the plan contracts with? Call the billing office and ask by plan name.
2. Are your medicines on the formulary, the plan's list of covered drugs? Ask which tier they sit on, because the tier sets your share.
3. If you qualify for cost sharing reductions, savings that lower your deductible and copays, look hard at Silver plans. Silver is the only metal level where they apply.
4. Compare what a plan can cost you in all: the monthly bill, the deductible, and the out of pocket maximum, the yearly cap on your costs.
5. Then compare the extras.

See how the metal levels work.

After you enroll

• Pay the first bill. Coverage does not start until you do, and this stops more sign ups than anything else.
• Watch for your card and the login for your member account
• Report income or household changes during the year rather than waiting for tax time
• Keep the mail the marketplace sends you. Some of it needs an answer.

Gather your papers, set aside half an hour, and start the form. If you would rather have someone sit with you, call our McAllen office at (956) 687 3334, or use the ZIP form on this page.

Gerino Alejos

Licensed insurance agent · License 3128710 · NPN 18243381

Owner of McAllen Insurance Group, an independent agency on North 10th Street in McAllen. Works with clients across Hidalgo, Cameron and Starr counties on Medicare, Marketplace health, life and auto coverage. Se habla español.