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Idaho

As of 2019, there were about 183,600 people without health insurance in Idaho, representing 10.5% of the state’s total population. That’s according to a tally from Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). The nonprofit also looked at the uninsured rate again this year and found that for 2021, of the people who still don’t have health insurance, about 94,700 of them could qualify for marketplace plans.

Marketplace plans are comprehensive coverage. They cover 10 essential health benefits, offer certain consumer protections and ensure that people with pre-existing conditions gain access to coverage. They’re regulated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The ACA also created tax credits, aka premium subsidies, to help make health insurance more affordable for people with low to moderate incomes. Under the law, people earning between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level qualify for these tax credits.

KFF found that of the marketplace-eligible people in Idaho who don’t have a health plan right now, nearly a third of them (32%) could get a bronze plan for free thanks to subsidies.

Idaho has its own health insurance exchange. If you live in the state and think you might qualify, visit YourHealthIdaho.org to check. Otherwise, you might find a health plan using a private marketplace, like ours, which offers ACA-compliant policies.

The Kaiser Family Foundation calculated average lowest cost plans by metal type in 2021. They found that lowest cost bronze plans averaged to $330 a month. Lowest priced silver plans averaged to $492 a month, while gold plans had an average low of $526 a month. These averages don’t factor in subsidies.

Using data from our own comparison site, we estimate that a 40-year-old in Lewiston with an annual income of $37,000 might pay around $362 a month for bronze coverage. Like the KFF averages, this does not include subsidies. (Note that subsidies may only be available in Idaho if you use the state exchange.)

How much you pay for health insurance in Idaho and what policies are available to you depend on where you live. In 2021, there are at least 5 insurers in the state. Among them are BlueCross of Idaho, Mountain Health and PacificSource.

Sources

Kaiser Family Foundation, “Health Insurance Coverage of the Total Population”
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Marketplace Eligibility Among the Uninsured: Implications for a Broadened Enrollment Period and ACA Outreach” (January 27, 2021)
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Average Marketplace Premiums by Metal Tier, 2018-2021”
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Insurer Participation on the ACA Marketplaces, 2014-2021” (November 23, 2020)

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