Fort Smith, Arkansas · Licensed independent agency
Health insurance in Fort Smith, after a big year for its hospitals.
Fort Smith’s hospitals changed fast in 2026. Baptist Health cut services, its family clinics change owners around January 1, and Mercy is taking on more patients. If you buy your own coverage, check your doctors before you renew.
Apex Health Advisors is licensed across Arkansas and helps people in Fort Smith, Van Buren, Alma, Greenwood and the rest of the River Valley on the Arkansas side. In 2026, 31.2% of Sebastian County Marketplace enrollees paid $10 a month or less after their tax credit.
Last updated . We update this page when something in Fort Smith actually changes, not on a schedule.
Baptist Health Fort Smith scaled back in 2026
Labor and delivery closed April 28, and several inpatient services ended.
Baptist Health closed its labor and delivery unit in Fort Smith on April 28, 2026. Deliveries there had dropped from 92 a month to about 20. It also said it would end inpatient kidney, lung, cancer and infectious disease care, and it cut jobs in April and again in June. Source: Arkansas Advocate, April 1, 2026; KATV, April 2026; Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 15, 2026.
Mercy Fort Smith still delivers babies. Mercy says it has committed more than $43 million since March and hired more than 640 people, over 200 of them from Baptist. Source: Mercy, October 12, 2026.
If you are pregnant, planning to be, or need any of those services, more of your care may now be at Mercy. Check that Mercy Fort Smith and your doctors there are in network before you pick a 2027 plan.
Your family clinic may change owners on January 1
Community Clinic plans to take over Baptist Health family clinics in Alma, Greenwood, Fort Smith and Van Buren around January 1, 2027.
That is the same day 2027 plans start. Your doctor may stay the same while the clinic’s name and owner change. Source: Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 15, 2026.
A plan’s directory may list the clinic under its old name, its new name, or both. Plans are still adding Community Clinic to their 2027 directories, so search for your doctor by name, not just the clinic.
More than 1 in 8 people under 65 here has no coverage
13.4% of Sebastian County residents under 65 have no health insurance, well above the state rate of about 11%.
That is about 14,200 people. Among adults with low incomes, 24.1% have no coverage. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, 2024.
Some people pay very little. In 2026, 31.2% of Sebastian County Marketplace enrollees paid $10 a month or less after their tax credit, more than the 28.0% statewide. Source: CMS 2026 Open Enrollment county data. Prices for 2027 will be different. If your income is under 138% of the poverty level, check ARHOME, Arkansas Medicaid for adults. It may cover you at no cost.
Live in Oklahoma and work in Fort Smith? Your Marketplace is Oklahoma’s
Federal rules tie your Marketplace to where you live, not where you work.
About 8,000 people from Le Flore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma work in Sebastian County. Source: U.S. Census Bureau commuting flows, 2016 to 2020. If you are one of them, you buy from Oklahoma’s Marketplace, with Oklahoma plans and networks. Where you work does not change that.
It works the other way too. If you live in Arkansas and see doctors across the line, check them before you choose. Arkansas Blue Cross says its Marketplace plans use an Arkansas-only network, so Oklahoma doctors are usually out of network. Check Health Advantage and Octave plans the same way. Source: Arkansas Blue Cross network page, read October 29, 2026.
How we help Fort Smith households
We check your doctors, including any who changed clinics, against each option we price for you.
We check your doctors at Mercy, Baptist and Community Clinic, and your prescriptions. We work out the tax credit you qualify for and price the Marketplace plans with it. Then we price short-term and private plans next to them. Most people have never heard of these, and for many healthy households they cost far less. Then we show you what each one would really cost you. For the rest of the state, read our Arkansas health insurance guide.
Elsewhere in Arkansas: Little Rock, where CHI St. Vincent is out of network with Arkansas Blue Cross, and Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas, where the hospitals took new names. Run a business here? See group plans for your team.
Common questions
Fort Smith questions, straight answers
Can I still have a baby at a hospital in Fort Smith?
Yes, at Mercy Fort Smith. Baptist Health Fort Smith closed its labor and delivery unit on April 28, 2026. Check that Mercy and your OB are in your 2027 plan's network before you enroll.
I live in Oklahoma but work in Fort Smith. Which Marketplace do I use?
Oklahoma's. Your Marketplace is set by where you live, not where you work, so you get Oklahoma plans and networks.
My Baptist family clinic is changing owners. Do I need a new plan?
Not necessarily. Community Clinic plans to take over Baptist family clinics in Alma, Greenwood, Fort Smith and Van Buren around January 1, 2027. Check that your doctor is in your 2027 plan's network under the new name before you renew.
Does it cost anything to work with you?
Not for individual and family plans. The carrier pays us, and your premium is the same whether you use us or enroll on your own.
Apex Health Advisors LLC is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program.
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