Best Cheap Health Insurance in Arizona 2019
Find the Cheapest Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area
Cheap health insurance plans can be purchased in Arizona 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. Depending on where you live in Arizona, the cheapest Silver health insurance plan is either the EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network or Ambetter Balanced Care 4. Health Net/Ambetter is only available in Pima and Maricopa counties, so their Balanced Care 4 health plan is the best cheap option in these regions. The EverydayHealth HM0 4000 Silver plan is the most affordable policy in other Arizona counties.
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 the best cheap health 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.
| Metal tier | Cheapest plan | Deductible | Out-of-pocket maximum | Monthly cost for 40-year-old |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catastrophic | SimpleHealth HMO - Neighborhood Network | $7,350 | $7,350 | $246.84 |
| Bronze | Ambetter Essential Care 2 HSA | $6,550 | $6,550 | $286.56 |
| Expanded Bronze | EverydayHealth HMO 6500 - Neighborhood Network | $6,500 | $7,350 | $402.72 |
| Silver | Ambetter Balanced Care 4 | $7,050 | $7,050 | $332.11 |
| Gold | Ambetter Secure Care 4 | $1,400 | $5,750 | $438.01 |
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 22% cheaper for a 21-year-old, which translates to an average savings of $112 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 the 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 that 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 from 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. Lower metal tier plans, such as Bronze and Catastrophic policies, come with the cheapest health insurance premiums. However, the trade-off is paying higher out-of-pocket costs if you become ill. You may have to cover much higher deductibles and copays than you would if you chose a Gold plan.
Gold Plans: Best if You Have High Expected Medical Costs
Though Gold health insurance policies come with the highest premiums, on average they're 27% 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.
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.
Bronze & Catastrophic Plans: Best for Healthy People with Low Expected Medical Costs
Catastrophic plans are only available to people under the age of 30, or those who meet certain exemptions, but we also 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. Though Bronze and Catastrophic health insurance plans have the cheapest monthly premiums, their high deductibles, copays and coinsurance mean that you may face a particularly large bill before your coverage kicks in.
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 with the ability to renew after that. However, in Arizona, state regulations restrict policy lengths to six months and only allow renewability for an additional six months thereafter.
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 Obamacare 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.
Find the Cheapest Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area
Best Cheap Health Insurance Companies in Arizona
There are two health insurance companies on the Arizona state exchange: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona Inc. and Health Net of Arizona Inc. Unfortunately, if you want to compare health plans from multiple companies, you won't be able to do so on the Arizona health exchange, as only one insurer is available in every county. Health Net of Arizona (Ambetter) offers health insurance in Pima and Maricopa counties, while Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the only insurer available in the rest of the state.
Cheapest Health Insurance Plan by County
Only one insurer is available on Arizona's health insurance marketplace in each county, but both Health Net and Blue Cross and Blue Shield offer multiple policies in each region. To help you find the best health insurance plan where you live, we identified the cheapest Silver policies in each county below.
| County | Cheapest Silver plan | Single adult, age 40 | Couple, age 40 | Couple, age 40, and child |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $618 | $1,236 | $1,606 |
| Cochise | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $599 | $1,198 | $1,557 |
| Coconino | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $618 | $1,236 | $1,606 |
| Gila | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $559 | $1,119 | $1,454 |
| Graham | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $599 | $1,198 | $1,557 |
| Greenlee | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $599 | $1,198 | $1,557 |
| La Paz | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $732 | $1,463 | $1,901 |
| Maricopa | Ambetter Balanced Care 4 | $471 | $942 | $1,223 |
| Mohave | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $618 | $1,236 | $1,606 |
| Navajo | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $618 | $1,236 | $1,606 |
| Pima | Ambetter Balanced Care 4 | $332 | $664 | $863 |
| Pinal | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $559 | $1,119 | $1,454 |
| Santa Cruz | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $487 | $974 | $1,265 |
| Yavapai | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $723 | $1,446 | $1,879 |
| Yuma | EverydayHealth HMO 4000 - Neighborhood Network | $732 | $1,463 | $1,901 |
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 $573 per month in Arizona. But the cost of an average Silver health plan would only increase by $243 per child added to the policy.
| Family size | Average monthly cost of health plan |
|---|---|
| Single adult | $573 |
| Adult couple | $1,146 |
| Family of three (adult couple and a child) | $1,489 |
| Family of four (adult couple and two children) | $1,832 |
| Family of five (adult couple and three children) | $2,175 |
Editorial Note: The editorial content on this page is not provided or commissioned by any financial institution. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, statements or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities prior to publication.