Best Affordable Health Insurance Plans Of 2024 (2024)

Consider your family’s current and near future healthcare needs when looking for an affordable health insurance plan. Are you planning to start a new family? Are you on many prescription medications? Do you expect you’ll need to get that trick knee fixed in the coming year?

All of those factors should be taken into account so you can decide whether or not you can choose a plan with a high deductible. A high-deductible health plan (HDHP) typically has lower premiums, but you pay more out-of-pocket when you need healthcare.

Annual Costs, Premiums and Deductibles

The first thing you’ll likely notice when looking for affordable health insurance on the ACA marketplace is the monthly health insurance premium. What you pay varies by the insurance company, deductible, where you live, type of plan, how many people are covered, your age, whether you smoke and your household size and income. Review all costs—premiums, deductibles and coinsurance—of plans you’re considering.

You’ll also want to pay attention to how your health insurance deductible stacks up against your premium. A plan with lower premiums and a high deductible might be a good fit if you don’t expect to need much healthcare. But if you regularly see a doctor, a plan with higher premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs like deductibles may be the most affordable health insurance over the course of the year.

Understand Metal Tiers

In the health insurance marketplace, ACA plans are grouped into four “metal” categories: bronze, silver, gold or platinum health insurance. The metal tiers which indicate how costs are split between you and the health insurance company.

• Bronze plans: You pay the lowest premium every month, but you also have a high deductible, so when you seek care, you have higher costs because it’ll take more to reach your deductible. This metal plan is ideal if you just want coverage for worst-case scenarios. Your health insurance pays 60% of your healthcare costs and you pay the remaining 40%.
• Silver plans: This monthly premium is slightly higher than bronze plans, but your costs are lower when you seek care. Your health insurance pays 70% of your healthcare costs while you contribute 30%.
• Gold plans: If you routinely visit your physician or need care, consider a gold plan, which has a higher monthly premium but lower point-of-care costs. Your health insurance pays 80% and you pay 20%.
• Platinum plans: This plan features the highest monthly premium, so if you’re frequently in need of care, you can rest assured that most of your care will be covered with minimal point-of-care costs when you use any services.

Premium Tax Credits

You’ll want to take advantage of premium tax credits if you’re eligible. Premium tax credits can be used to make health insurance more affordable. The tax credits lower your monthly health insurance payments when you enroll in an ACA plan on the health insurance marketplace.

People with household incomes at 400% of the federal poverty level or below are eligible for premium tax credits. Silver plans may also get cost-sharing subsidies that reduce out-of-pocket costs, depending on household income.

These are two ways to get more affordable health insurance through the ACA marketplace. You’ll find out if you’re eligible after you enter your household information into the marketplace website. The marketplace will tell you whether you’re eligible for those discounts and how much you may save.

HSA vs. FSA

When looking for the most affordable health insurance plan for you, it’s important to know the difference between an FSA and an HSA. Health savings accounts (HSAs) are available only if you have a high-deductible health plan. These are health plans with an annual deductible of at least $1,600 for an individual or $3,200 for family coverage.

An HSA lets you reduce overall healthcare costs by saving pre-tax money in a health-specific savings account. With an accompanying debit card, you can then use these funds to pay for deductibles, copays, coinsurance and qualified medical expenses. An HSA cannot be used to pay monthly premiums associated with your health insurance plan.

You can keep an HSA regardless of your employment status and, after you turn 65, you can treat it like a retirement account for health costs, using the funds however you want without penalty.

Meanwhile, a flexible spending account (FSA) is a similar benefit provided alongside health insurance plans offered through your employer. You fund your FSA with pre-tax dollars from your paycheck and use a paired debit card when you want to use the funds on qualified medical expenses. One drawback to FSAs is the amount you save is unlikely to roll over from one year to the next. In other words, if you don’t use it by a certain date, you lose it.

Out-of-Network Coverage

It’s generally more affordable to see in-network providers than out-of-network providers. If you’re going out of network to see a preferred provider or visit a preferred facility, know that they don’t have a contract with your health insurance plan company and will likely cost more—sometimes even full price.

To keep costs low, either pick a plan that includes your preferred care providers in its network or choose a more forgiving and flexible plan when it comes to out-of-network coverage.

Out-of-Pocket Maximum

This amount is the most you could possibly have to pay for healthcare services in a single year. Your deductible, copays and coinsurance for any in-network services all count toward this maximum. Monthly premiums, payments for services not covered and out-of-network visit costs don’t contribute to your out-of-pocket maximum.

Once you hit your maximum, your health insurance plan kicks in to cover 100% of your costs for the remainder of that year. So if you’re trying to find the most affordable healthcare plan, pay close attention to the out-of-pocket maximum and how much it could possibly support you.