The CMS hospital file lists five hospitals with an emergency room in the Columbia area’s central counties, including Lexington Medical Center, MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown and Prisma Health Richland Hospital. Whether a marketplace plan pays at any of them depends on the network attached to the specific plan you buy — not on the insurer’s name.
Who files marketplace plans in Columbia
Four insurers filed 2026 marketplace plans in Lexington and Richland counties in the CMS Plan Year 2026 file: Ambetter from Absolute Total Care, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, First Choice Next and Molina Healthcare. The lowest-cost Silver plan for a 40-year-old is about $569–$592 a month across the area before any premium tax credit. Plan types filed here: EPO, HMO and PPO.
Every county in the Columbia area has at least one marketplace PPO. A PPO pays something toward care outside its network, which matters if you see doctors in more than one area — though it usually costs more than an HMO or EPO from the same insurer.
Hospitals in the Columbia area
Five acute-care hospitals with an emergency room in the central counties, from the CMS Hospital General Information file (July 2026). Listing a hospital is not a statement about which plans contract with it — that is decided plan by plan.
| Hospital | City | County | CMS star rating | Type | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington Medical Center | West Columbia | Lexington County | 3 of 5 | Acute care | Non-profit |
| MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown | Columbia | Richland County | 3 of 5 | Acute care | Non-profit |
| Prisma Health Richland Hospital | Columbia | Richland County | 3 of 5 | Acute care | Non-profit |
| Prisma Health Baptist | Columbia | Richland County | 4 of 5 | Acute care | Non-profit |
| Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge | Columbia | Lexington County | 4 of 5 | Acute care | Non-profit |
CMS star rating is the federal overall hospital quality rating, 1 to 5, from the same file.
Which insurance do Columbia hospitals accept?
The four insurers above are the ones selling marketplace plans here. That is not a list of plans any of these hospitals accepts. Hospitals contract with individual plans, not whole insurers, so the same insurer can sell one plan that includes your hospital and another that doesn’t. The answer that counts is a check of your exact plan, dated. Get my free hospital check ↓
Searching for MetLife, Delta Dental or Renaissance? Those are dental insurers: dental plans cover teeth, not hospital care. If you want dental coverage too, see dental insurance for individuals.
How to check a hospital against a plan
- Start from the plan, not the insurer. Get the full plan name and its network name from the marketplace listing.
- Look the hospital up in that network in the insurer’s directory for the 2027 plan year, not the current one.
- Call the hospital’s billing office and read them the plan name. They can tell you whether they are contracted with that network.
- Check your doctors separately. A hospital being in a network does not put every doctor who works there in it.
- Write down the date and who told you. Contracts change during the year.
Or skip all of that: put your ZIP in below and tell me the hospital and doctors. I’ll check them against every plan filed in your county and tell you the date I checked.
More in South Carolina
Hospital systems
AnMed Health · Bon Secours St. Francis · Conway Medical Center · Lexington Medical Center · MUSC Health · Prisma Health · Roper St. Francis · Self Regional Healthcare · Spartanburg Regional · Tidelands Health · Trident Health
Metro markets
Find out which Columbia plans cover your hospital
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