Health insurance in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is the non-expansion state without a coverage gap. 6.4% of under-65 residents are uninsured, and its 72 counties carry 1 to 5 insurers each.
Source: CMS Marketplace Open Enrollment Public Use Files and US Census Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, 2026 release. Figures cover the under-65 population.
Where you enroll
Wisconsin uses the federally facilitated marketplace, so you enroll at HealthCare.gov on the federal calendar — the dates are here.
Wisconsin is the exception among non-expansion states
Wisconsin has not adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion, and most published lists stop there and file it alongside Texas and Florida. That is misleading.
Wisconsin covers low-income adults below 100% of the poverty guideline through its own program, so it has no coverage gap. Nobody here falls between Medicaid and the premium tax credit the way they do in the other non-expansion states. What the state gives up is the enhanced federal funding it would receive for a full expansion, and coverage for adults between 100% and 138% of the guideline — who go to the marketplace with a subsidy instead.
Wisconsin's uninsured rate is 6.4%, against a 26-state median of 9.9%.
How much choice Wisconsin counties get
Counties in Wisconsin carry between 1 and 5 insurers, so competition is fairly even across the state without being uniform.
One county in Wisconsin has just a single insurer selling on the exchange. There, the benchmark plan that sets the subsidy is whatever that one company decided to charge. No county in Wisconsin changed its number of insurers since the previous plan year.
How many Wisconsin residents buy on the marketplace
291,336 Wisconsin residents selected a marketplace plan for 2026. Against the state's under-65 population that is 62 per thousand, below the 26-state median of 79, and 19th highest of the 26 states on this site.
Of those, 39,582 — 14% — were new rather than renewing, which is a fairly typical mix of new and renewing enrollees (16th of 26).
The spread inside Wisconsin
Milwaukee County is the largest county we publish here, with 755,695 under-65 residents; Eau Claire County is the smallest, with 86,185. Milwaukee County has 3 insurers offering 35 plans, and Eau Claire County has 3 offering 34.
The widest choice in Wisconsin is in Waukesha County — 5 insurers, 62 plans. The narrowest is Rock County, with 2 insurers and 24 plans. Same state, same rules, 38 more plans to choose from.
Uninsured rates range from 3.9% in Waukesha County to 8.4% in Milwaukee County — 2.2 times as high, within one state.
The 14 largest counties in Wisconsin
By under-65 population, covering 64% of the state's under-65 residents. Wisconsin has 72 counties with complete federal data; we publish pages for the largest.
| County | Under 65 | Uninsured | Insurers | Plans | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee County | 755,695 | 8.4% | 3 | 35 | 62 |
| Dane County | 487,201 | 4.6% | 3 | 49 | 50 |
| Waukesha County | 328,203 | 3.9% | 5 | 62 | 59 |
| Brown County | 220,923 | 6.3% | 5 | 57 | 60 |
| Outagamie County | 159,101 | 5.3% | 3 | 30 | 67 |
| Racine County | 157,415 | 7.0% | 3 | 35 | 53 |
| Kenosha County | 137,003 | 6.6% | 3 | 35 | 53 |
| Winnebago County | 136,340 | 5.3% | 3 | 30 | 62 |
| Rock County | 133,448 | 6.5% | 2 | 24 | 55 |
| Marathon County | 110,447 | 6.4% | 4 | 46 | 62 |
| Washington County | 109,569 | 4.6% | 4 | 53 | 61 |
| La Crosse County | 94,808 | 4.5% | 3 | 37 | 49 |
| Sheboygan County | 91,659 | 5.8% | 3 | 31 | 64 |
| Eau Claire County | 86,185 | 5.9% | 3 | 34 | 58 |
Source: CMS Marketplace Open Enrollment Public Use Files and US Census Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, 2026 release. "Per 1,000" is marketplace plan selections per thousand under-65 residents.
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