How much does Obamacare cost?
Average health insurance costs for employer-sponsored health insurance in 2019 was approximately $599 for individual coverage, with average monthly employee contributions of approximately $104, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. But what about Americans who have to buy their own health insurance? Here’s how much Obamacare costs and what factors can increase or reduce how much you pay.
Before subsidies, the average lowest-cost Bronze plan in 2020 was $331 per month and the average Silver plan was $$442 per month, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. However, after subsidies, the average person in HealthSherpa’s study paid $47 because they received a subsidy of an average of $634. Although the sticker price of Obamacare plans can be high, 94% of people received a subsidy on HealthSherpa during 2020 Open Enrollment.
Grab our free guide to understanding your health insurance costs—you can save it and refer back to it later.
To see how much an Obamacare plan would cost in your area, and how much of a subsidy you’re eligible for, enter your zip code below.
What counts as Obamacare?
When people say Obamacare insurance, they are typically referring to individual and family plans bought on the health insurance Marketplace created to help implement the Affordable Care Act. The ACA was created to expand healthcare access and reduce associated costs. All Obamacare plans include essential health benefits such as free preventive care and mental health services.
How much does Obamacare cost?
What Obamacare costs will depend on your age, location, household size, and income, as well as the type of health insurance plan you choose and whether you use tobacco. Here’s how each factor plays a role.
Age
Health insurance companies can charge older people higher premiums than they do for younger individuals. However, this can’t surpass three times the premium for younger folks. Health insurance companies can also charge people who use tobacco up to 50 percent more.
Location
Where you live can significantly impact the cost of your health insurance. This is due to varying levels of cost of living as well as differences in state and local laws. The amount of competition between insurance companies in each location also plays a role.
Type of plan
The cost of your premium will depend on whether you’re enrolling in an individual or family plan, and whether you’re choosing a cheaper type of plan or one that covers more. The five types of health insurance plans are Catastrophic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The first option is only available to those under 30 years old and those with certain exemptions. For the other four, Bronze plans typically have lower monthly premiums and higher out-of-pocket costs. And this balance shifts all the way up to Platinum plans, which typically have highest monthly premiums and lowest out-of-pocket costs. Grab our quick guide to metal levels to learn more about the differences between Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum plans.
Income
Income comes into play when it interacts with your household size and location to determine whether you qualify for an ACA subsidy to reduce your Obamacare costs. The average monthly premium for 2018 benchmark Obamacare plans is $411 before subsidies, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But thanks to these subsidies, a HealthSherpa study found that 18 percent of Obamacare enrollees pay nothing for coverage, while 26 percent have premiums that are less than $10 per month.
Subsidies
You’ll be eligible for subsidies if you make between 100 and 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. The two types of health insurance subsidies are premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions. Location is important if your income is between 100 percent and 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Line. If you live in a state with expanded Medicaid, this usually means you’ll qualify for Medicaid and should apply for that instead of Obamacare. (If you qualify for Medicaid and choose to buy an Obamacare health insurance plan instead, you won’t be eligible for any subsidies.)
States can also put restrictions on how much each of these factors can impact your premium. But where you live, your gender, current health, and medical history cannot be taken into account to determine your Obamacare premiums.
What are the total health care costs under Obamacare?
Health insurance premiums are just one part of total health care costs. This applies if you get an Obamacare plan or have employer-sponsored coverage. When choosing a plan, make sure to consider other factors such as health insurance deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, out-of-pocket maximums, and network coverage. Sometimes a plan with higher premium will actually cost less when you incorporate health care costs. Especially if you can apply a subsidy.
Try to estimate what sort of medical services you’ll need, considering healthcare services you currently use, or anything you’ll need in the future. When you compare plans, you’ll be able to see premiums and health care prices associated with each and can use that information to calculate which plan is best for you.
If you need help enrolling in health insurance, give us a call at (872) 228-2549.
“It depends” is not an answer to the question. What are the costs for each dependency? For example a 45 year old couple with 2 children in college in New Jersey? How much does it vary for younger or older, more or less children, other states. That’s all I want to know.
You can see plans and prices here for your specific location and family size: https://www.healthsherpa.com/marketplace/zip_code
I agree with Ronnie. “It depends” is not an answer. At least give some examples.
Also, thanks Divya for posting the link but that link doesn’t give any sense of costs until after filling out a bunch of forms (and digging up financial information such as my W2). The whole reason I came to this article in the first place was to get a general idea of costs without going through all that red tape.
If you want to make this article more useful, please provider some examples (age, location, plan, etc. along with what the associated premiums would be).
The average cost of an ACA plan is $477/month before a subsidy, but again, depends on your household size and income. Insurers also vary by location.
More info: https://www.healthsherpa.com/blog/how-much-does-aca-health-insurance-cost/
So true, I don’t want to give my phone number and start receiving a lot of calks
HealthSherpa does not collect your phone number in the plan shopping process – you can see plans and prices without giving any contact information. But we do need your zip code and income and household size to see how much of a subsidy you’re eligible for.
“It depends” is certainly correct – The ACA “depends” on ME to pay for a system where 44% of people pay $10 or less. Like nearly every govmnt plan ever conceived it is unbalanced and unsustainable – shifting nearly all costs to the barely holding on middle class and a free ride to everyone under.
Anyone who is that poor is on Expanded Medicaid, MediCal or Medicare.
I really and truly wish that…that was true!! Not all poor people got Medicaid or Medicare!! I’m a single mom of 2…and my son and daughter both have Medicaid but I only qualify for family planning Medicaid!!! And who and the hell is still running around here having babies!!!! My baby is 19yrs old and I need other help not just only reproduction but it is all in the state that you are living in….just sad!!!
amen . its amazing how educated people with money think they know how it is to struggle. the bible says no man shall boast of his wealth because its all by chance and circumstance. ie. if bill gates had the idea for microsoft before apple made computers fo every household hed be selling oranges by the highway and broke.
What is the qualification for individual who is living with someone who has health insurance with an employer and the individual has a job that doesn’t pay health insurance and makes about $25,000 a year living in Virginia?
The individual should be able to get subsidized coverage through the Marketplace/Obamacare. You can give us a call at 872-228-2549 if you want help over the phone, or see plans and prices at healthsherpa.com by putting in your zip code and income.
For a small business owner in FL making $60,000+ -> $100,000 for health insurance for husband + wife.
After Obamacare: Good health insurance cost us $2,798 a MONTH.
Same plan BEFORE Obamacare: Started @ $768 and went up to $1,230 a MONTH.
That’s a lot, that a $500,000 home mortgage on a home that I don’t own, but rather a healthcare plan that wont cover things they say they will on random things annually AFTER approval from them via email/phone for my family and me. Every year for a few years the plans would increase $600 a month – $700 a month more every renewal. I did not make $600-$700 more a month every year more though.
My sister 2 yrs younger doesn’t have any motivation to work, raise a family, buy a house, so she makes $12 hr at a dead end job
She pays…$13 a month.
She doesn’t make 27 TIME LESS than me @ $24,960 a year VERSUS my business changing from $60k-$100k. Lets do that math, she makes 3-5 times less than I do. She doesn’t have a small business overhead, or kids, or a mortgage, car insurance on 2 vehicles, overhead, etc etc. How did legislation justify that insanity? How did they not account for price gouging those who are not big corporations?
Since I can’t afford that and cancelled health insurance, I paid penalties. I’m punished for owning a business and not making enough…yet having work ethic. Makes sense, punish the little guy so the big guy and the guy who watches TV all day, reaps the benefits of MY hard work. My voice isn’t the only one, I have heard that from dozens of small business owners I work with.
Very American of you guys in congress. Bravo.
so what question are you answering
you dont like america leave it
How about going back to what we had before Obama Care. Mine went from $6,500 year for a family to over $13,000 yr in a years time. OUCH!!!
I’m with you, the honest hard working responsible guy that works his a## off to feed his family always suffers. I may as well sell everything I got hide the cash and suck off the system like all the other couch potatos. Alot of them drive nicer cars than I do.
Blame the insurance companies for taking a big cut, not the ACA.
You want lower cost medical insurance ? Then vote for those who support MFA.
exactly lets outlaw lobbyists
if someone doesnt have any insurance. you have to pay even higher taxes due to indigent care. what would be your sugestion to the problem . not everyone is a couch potatoes some had jobs but got injured and paid in. its funny how your views change when you get knocked down . i went to college i did everything right but i find myself in a awkward place with a lifelong disease i didnt forsee or ask for . people are so self centered creatures . me me me . please remember everybody is on a different journey and we are all of the human race. i would rather die than go to the doctor and leave my family with a bill when i die. everyone works hard . my grandfather was the 12 hour a day every day worker and he dropped dead at 52 of a massive caidiac arrest. he struggled to buy food. ignorance is telling someone to pull themselves uo by their bootstraps. its saying levetation is possible if you pick yourself up. the question was about insurance . when i see jesus ill have a clear conscious. if i had a billion dollars i wouldnt keep it long . id give it to the poor because its what jesus would do.