What is Health Insurance Marketplace?
Open Enrollment for 2022 runs Monday, November 1, 2021 through Saturday, January 15, 2022.
- Enroll by December 15, 2021 for coverage that starts January 1, 2022.
- After January 15, you can enroll in 2022 health insurance only if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.
Every health insurance option in the Marketplace will offer comprehensive coverage, from doctors to medications to hospital visits. You can compare all your insurance options based on:
- Overall plan price
- Level of benefits
- Deductible & Maximum Out of Pocket limits
- Add your medical provider and prescription drugs to see if they are covered
- Plus additional features that may be important to you
When you shop at the Marketplace, coverage information will be laid out for you. All your costs are stated up front, so you’ll get a clear picture of what you pay and what coverage you receive before you make a choice. Health insurance companies can't refuse to cover you or charge you more just because you have a chronic or pre-existing condition, and they can’t charge more for women than for men.
New lower monthly premiums based on your income.
Under the new American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 more people than ever before qualify for help paying for health coverage, even those who weren’t eligible in the past.
Most people currently enrolled in a Marketplace plan may qualify for more tax credits. When you apply for coverage in the Health Insurance Marketplace, you’ll find out if you qualify for a premium tax credit that lowers your monthly premium and for extra savings on out-of-pocket costs like deductibles and copayments.
The amount of your premium tax credit depends on the estimated household income that you put on your Marketplace application.
Coverage falls into four categories
The category you choose affects how much your premium costs each month and what portion of the bill you pay for things like hospital visits or prescription medications. It also affects your out-of-pocket costs —the total amount you’ll spend for the year if you need care. The categories are
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
Balancing monthly premiums with out-of-pocket costs
As with all health coverage, you will still have to pay a monthly premium.
- Premiums are usually higher for policies that pay more of your out-of-pocket medical costs when you get care. For example, if you have a Gold policy, you'll likely pay a higher premium, but may have lower costs when you go to the doctor or use another medical service.
- With a Bronze policy, you'll likely pay a lower premium, but you'll pay a higher share of costs when you get care.
- Platinum policy will likely have the highest monthly premiums and lowest out-of-pocket costs. The policy will pay more of the costs if you need a lot of medical care.
In general, when choosing your health coverage, keep this in mind:
- the lower the premium, the higher the out-of-pocket costs when you need care;
- the higher the premium, the lower the out-of-pocket costs when you need care.
The Marketplace also offers "catastrophic" policies to people under 30 years old and to some people with very low incomes.