A question we get all the time here at eHealth is, how does health insurance really cost?
And the answer is, it depends on who is paying for it.
The table below shows data from the Kaiser Family Foundation 2013 Employer Health Benefits Survey (link), eHealth’s Health Insurance Price Index Report for Open Enrollment and Q1 2014 (link) and a combination of data from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Estimates for average monthly subsidies, which is $241 per month (link) and HHS data showing the average price of 2nd least expensive Silver plan: $328 before tax credits (link).
Last week eHealth published its Health Insurance Price Index report for the second half of the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment period.
The report analyzes consumer buying trends and costs for the off-exchange individual health insurance market and is based on more than 213,000 individual and family health insurance applications submitted by eHealth customers between October 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014.
Doug Dalrymple wrote a detailed summary of the report last week. I just pulled out a few highights I found interesting:
When paying full-price at eHealth (0% with a subsidy) here is what people bought:
- 47% chose Bronze
- 21% chose Silver
- 14% chose Catastrophic
- 14% chose Gold
- 5% chose Platinum
When shopping at a .Gov Exchange (82% with a subsidy) here is what people bought:
- 62% chose Silver
- 19% chose Bronze
- 12% chose Gold
- 7% chose Platinum
- 1% chose Catastrophic
What did people pay during open enrollment?
- 2014 OEP: Average individual paid $271
- 2014 OEP:Average deductible was $4,164.
Premiums for individuals: Platinum vs. Gold. vs. Silver vs. Bronze vs. Catastrophic
- Between October 2013 and March 2014
- Platinum: $411
- Gold: $353
- Silver : $328
- Bronze: $259
- Catastrophic: $134
- Platinum was 59% higher than Bronze
Deductibles for Individuals: Platinum vs. Gold. vs. Silver vs. Bronze vs. Catastrophic
- Between October 2013 and March 2014
- Platinum: $291
- Gold: $970
- Silver: $2,572
- Bronze: $5,336
- Catastrophic: $6,334
- Bronze was 1,833% higher than Platinum
