Arizona residents can buy cheap health insurance plans through the state marketplace, or low-income households may be eligible for coverage through Arizona's Medicaid expansion. To help you find the best health insurance plan for your family, we evaluated all policies on the state exchange to find those with the lowest premiums.

In 2021, the average health insurance cost for a 40-year-old is $490. This represents a 1% increase in cost since the 2020 plan year.

Depending on where you live in Arizona, the cheapest Silver health insurance plans can be Ambetter Balanced Care 12 (2021), Blue AdvanceHealth Silver - Neighborhood Network or Oscar Silver Saver 2.

Cheapest health insurance coverage by metal tier

Health insurance plans on the Arizona exchange are divided into metal tiers, which indicate the benefits you would receive from a policy as well as its out-of-pocket costs and premiums. To help you find a cheap health insurance plan for yourself, we compared all those listed on the Arizona marketplace and identified the most affordable policies in each metal tier. Not all of these health insurance policies are offered in every county, but we recommend using these to get a sense of the costs and benefits you can expect in each tier of coverage.

The actual cost of a health insurance policy will vary depending on your age in addition to the policy you choose and the number of people covered. As you can see below, the cost of a health insurance plan in Arizona is 28% cheaper for a 21-year-old than for a 40-year-old, which translates to an average savings of $110 per month for the average Silver plan. A 60-year-old, on the other hand, would end up paying 112% more for the same level of coverage.

Finding your best health insurance coverage in Arizona

If your household income falls below 138% of the federal poverty level, you may qualify for Arizona's expanded Medicaid program to gain health insurance coverage. For those who don't qualify, the county you live in, your household income and your expected medical expenses will all help determine the best cheap health insurance plan available through the Arizona marketplace. Different health plans are available in different counties. For example, a Pima resident would have different coverage options than a person who lives in Apache.

Within a given Arizona county, you'll be able to choose from different metal tier health plans, each of which has its own pros and cons.

Gold plans: Best if you have high expected medical costs

Though Gold health insurance policies come with the highest premiums — on average, they're 34% more expensive than Silver plans in Arizona — your variable expenses will be much lower. Gold health plans have the lowest cost-sharing features, such as deductibles, copays and coinsurance, making them the best health insurance option for those with high expected medical expenses. If you have ongoing prescription needs, for instance, you'll likely find that Gold plans have the most affordable out-of-pocket expenses for drugs.

The cheapest Gold plan in Arizona is Blue EverydayHealth Gold - PimaFocus Network. Compare all tiers in Idaho above.

Silver plans: Best for average medical costs or people with low income

Silver plans are eligible for cost-sharing subsidies, so one of these policies is likely to be the best cheap health insurance plan if you're in a low-income household. Silver policies are also a good middle ground between Gold and Bronze plans, combining affordable monthly premiums with out-of-pocket expenses if you do need medical care.

The cheapest Silver plan in Arizona is Blue AdvanceHealth Silver - PimaFocus Network. Compare all tiers in Idaho above.

Bronze and Catastrophic plans: Best for healthy people with low expected medical costs

Catastrophic plans are only available to people under the age of 30 or for those who meet certain exemptions, but we would only recommend these policies for people who are fairly young and healthy. Similarly, a Bronze plan will likely be the best cheap health insurance policy if you have low expected medical costs and are able to pay the high out-of-pocket expenses in the event you need medical care.

The cheapest Bronze plan in Arizona is Ambetter Essential Care 1 (2021). The cheapest Catastophic plan is Blue SimpleHealth - PimaFocus Network. Compare all tiers in Idaho above.

Health insurance rate changes in Arizona

In Arizona, health insurance premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums are determined yearly by the health providers. The changes are then approved by federal regulators.

In 2021, most health insurance premiums decreased on the Arizona health insurance exchange. The largest decrease was seen in Expanded Bronze tiers, which declined by nearly 1%.

Short-term health insurance in Arizona

Short-term health insurance is available for purchase in Arizona. Federal regulations allow short-term health insurance to last up to 12 months or 364 days with the ability to renew three times after that. In other words, you would be able to have short-term health insurance for a maximum of three years.

Most short-term plans do not cover the essential benefits, including maternity, mental health and prescription drug coverage. For this reason, they are not qualified Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans and are not offered on the state marketplace. It can be useful to consider short-term health insurance if you are looking for a more affordable option for health coverage or missed open enrollment.

Best cheap health insurance companies in Arizona

There are six health insurance companies on the Arizona state exchange:

Ambetter from Arizona Complete Health offers the best-priced Silver plans in six counties. If you want to compare health plans from multiple companies, you may not be able to do so depending on where you live, as certain insurers are only available in select Arizona counties. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is the only insurer available across the entire state.

Cheapest health insurance plan by county

The lowest-cost health plan and its price will vary based on the region you live in. For instance, you would pay $70 per month less for the Silver 1 health plan if you live in Pima County than you would as a resident of Maricopa County. To help you find the best health insurance plan where you live, we identified the cheapest Silver policies in each county below.

Average cost of health insurance by family size in Arizona

The cost of a health insurance plan in Arizona will vary depending on the size of your family, in addition to your age and the policy you choose. For example, the average cost of a Silver health insurance plan in Arizona would cost 46% more for a family of five than it would for a family of three.

Health insurance premiums are determined for each adult based upon their age, while children below the age of 15 are priced at a flat rate. So, if you add your 40-year-old spouse to your health insurance plan, your premium would increase by an average of $507 per month in Arizona. But the cost of an average Silver health plan would only increase by $303 per child added to the policy.

Methodology

The Arizona health insurance rate data in this analysis was sourced from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website. ValuePenguin used the CMS Public Use Files (PUF) in our calculations to average premiums across a variety of factors such as metal tier, county and family size.