As of 2019, Washington had an uninsured rate of 6.6%, which amounts to nearly 489,000 people without coverage. That’s according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonprofit that tracks and analyzes healthcare. The nonprofit also found in 2021 that of the people without health insurance in Washington, about 259,600 of them would be eligible for marketplace coverage.
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), major medical plans are regulated by the federal government. That includes marketplace plans. These plans have to cover a set of 10 essential health benefits, like prescription drugs, emergency care and mental health care. They also have to cover people with pre-existing conditions.
Along with healthcare reforms, the ACA created advance premium tax credits, aka subsidies, for people earning between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level. These credits help lower the cost of health insurance for those with low to moderate incomes.
In fact, Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that of the people without health insurance in Washington who are marketplace-eligible, about 15% could get a bronze plan for free thanks to subsidies.
KFF also looked at health insurance premiums in Washington for 2021 and calculated the lowest priced averages among different tier types. Bronze plans had an average lowest price of $280 a month, silver had a lowest cost average of $380 a month and gold plans had an average low of $422 a month.
These averages don’t take into account any subsidies. If you live in Washington, your best bet for subsidized health insurance is to use the state’s marketplace at WAHealthPlanFinder.org. That’s because Washington, like several other states, has its own exchange.
If you don’t qualify for a subsidy in Washington, you may find an affordable health plan shopping on a private marketplace, like ours.
Using data from our marketplace, we found that a 40-year-old in Seattle with an income of $37,000 a year could find a bronze plan for just under $278 a month. That does not include subsidies.
Cost and coverage options depend on where you live. There are at least 9 insurers offering marketplace plans in Washington in 2021. That includes UnitedHealthcare, Molina, Kaiser Permanente (not affiliated with the nonprofit mentioned above), and Premera.
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)