The Health Insurance Exchanges ("Marketplaces") are new websites where state residents can go to compare and enroll in health insurance plans. All health insurance plans offered through these Exchanges cover a set of essential health benefits, are guaranteed-issue, and offer premium subsidies for eligible residents.
Two insurance companies will be offering individual health insurance plans through Alabama’s Health Insurance Exchange. The carriers include:
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama
Humana Insurance Company
These insurance companies will be offering 13 different plans throughout the state. The health insurance exchange opened for enrollment on October 1, 2013 for coverage that can go into effect as early as January 1, 2014.
The chart below shows the average rates for a 27-year-old, a 50-year-old, a family of four with 30-year-old parents and two children, a single-parent family of three with a 30-year-old parent and two children, a 40-year-old couple without children, and a child (under age 21). The plans are divided into four standard "metallic" tiers of coverage, to help compare plans by level of coverage. There are also catastrophic plans, which are meant to only cover health expenses in the case of emergency. These below are averages; premium rates will vary based on carrier, plan, age, region, family size, and tobacco use.
The average rates above reflect the prices of premium prices before any cost sharing or premium subsidies, which will further decrease healthcare costs for eligible residents. The actual amount that Alabama residents will pay depends on their household income. New federal health insurance tax subsidies will cap the cost of health insurance at 2% - 9.5% of household income, if household income is up to 400% above the federal poverty line (FPL).
See more: Health Insurance Tax Subsidy Charts.
For information on how to use the online Health Insurance Exchanges see: How to Sign Up for Individual Health Insurance via the Marketplaces.
More information on Alabama’s Health Insurance Exchange and health reform is available at healthcare.gov.
The Department of Health and Human Services recently released individual premium rates for all federally-run state health insurance exchanges. See: Health Plan Rates for the 36 Federal Health Insurance Marketplaces.