Best Cheap Health Insurance in Delaware 2020
Find Cheap Health Insurance Quotes in Delaware
If you are looking to purchase health insurance in Delaware, you can find cheap individual policies on the state insurance exchange. We conducted research and found that the Health Savings Embedded Blue EPO Silver 3950 HSA is the cheapest Silver plan available across the state.
In 2020, the average cost of health insurance is $475 for a 40-year-old. When compared to the 2018 plan year, this is a decline of over 13%.
Delaware has also passed the expanded version of Medicaid, which is available if your income falls below 138% of the federal poverty level. Highmark BCBSD Inc. is the only insurance provider in the state, but the company does offer a variety of policies, which allow you the flexibility to choose a plan that fits your financial situation.
Cheapest health insurance by metal tier
Health insurance in Delaware is broken down into five different metal tiers: Catastrophic, Bronze, Expanded Bronze, Silver and Gold. We compared all the policies available in each tier and identified a cheap health insurance option available to you. The table below provides the cheapest plan at each level of coverage, along with the deductible, out-of-pocket maximum and monthly cost for a 40-year-old.
| Metal tier | Cheapest plan | Deductible | Maximum out-of-pocket | Monthly cost for a 40-year-old |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catastrophic | Major Events Blue EPO 8150 | $8,150 | $8,150 | $302 |
| Bronze | Shared Cost Blue EPO Bronze 7900 | $7,900 | $7,900 | $372 |
| Expanded Bronze | Shared Cost Blue EPO Bronze 3900 | $3,900 | $7,900 | $387 |
| Silver | Health Savings Embedded Blue EPO Silver 3950 HSA | $3,950 | $6,750 | $521 |
| Gold | Shared Cost Blue EPO Gold | $0 | $7,500 | $531 |
| Platinum | Shared Cost Blue EPO Platinum 200 | $200 | $5,000 | $674 |
A policyholder's age will affect the premium the most when trying to purchase a health policy. As you can see in the graph below, for all metal tiers, the average cost of a health plan increases significantly with age. For example, a Gold health insurance plan is 22% more affordable on average for a 21-year-old when compared to a 40-year-old, whereas 60-year-olds would pay 112% higher premiums than 40-year-olds.
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Finding the best health insurance coverage in Delaware
Costs are not the only aspects of health insurance policies that you should consider. Cost sharing, such as deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, are also just as important to evaluate before purchasing a health plan.
In Delaware, the best health insurance coverage tier will primarily depend on your level of income and expected medical costs. Households and families with higher medical costs should lean toward policies with lower deductibles, while healthier individuals should opt for cheaper plans.
Catastrophic and Bronze plans: Best for healthy individuals
Bronze and Catastrophic plans are the cheapest health policies offered on the Delaware exchange. But these plans have large deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, which can be expensive if you have to use medical services throughout the year.
For this reason, we only recommend Bronze and Catastrophic plans if you are very healthy and do not need routine medical care. Catastrophic plans are also only available if you are under the age of 30 or have received a hardship exemption.
Silver plans: Average premiums and deductibles
Silver metal tier health plans are good policies for beginning your health insurance search because of their modest premiums and deductibles. These are the plans that other exchange health policies are benchmarked off of and are a middle ground between Bronze and Gold policies.
Silver plans are the only health insurance policies in Delaware that are eligible for cost-sharing reductions, making them a good option for low-income households. These reductions further decrease the amount of the copays, coinsurance and deductibles but are only available if your household income falls below 250% of the federal poverty level.
Gold and Platinum plans: High premiums but smaller deductibles
Gold health insurance plans have the highest premiums across all the metal tiers but are great policies if you expect to have large or frequent medical expenses. This is due to a low deductible, which allows for cost-sharing between you and the health insurance provider. For example, the Shared Cost Blue EPO Gold plan has a deductible of $0, while the Shared Cost Blue EPO Bronze 7900 Bronze plan has a deductible of $7,900. The lower deductible is met faster for Gold plans, which allows access to the cost-sharing benefits more quickly.
Health insurance rate changes in Delaware
Health insurance in Delaware is regulated through the federal health insurance exchange. Annually, insurance providers will adjust their plans' premium, deductible and out-of-pocket maximums which are then approved for the following plan year.
For 2020, health insurance premiums in Delaware have fallen across all metal tiers when compared to 2018. The largest decline in costs can be seen in Catastrophic plans which are $121 cheaper for this coming year.
| Metal tier | 2018 Premium | 2020 Premium | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catastrophic | $423 | $302 | -28.67% |
| Bronze | $475 | $372 | -21.74% |
| Silver | $587 | $535 | -24.27% |
| Gold | $706 | $541 | -23.35% |
Best cheap health insurance companies in Delaware
Highmark BCBSD Inc. is the only health insurance company on the Delaware state exchange. This does decrease the number of options for residents, but Highmark BCBSD Inc. offers multiple policies within some metal tiers. For instance, it offers two Silver metal tier health plans, each with different deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums: the Shared Cost Blue EPO Silver 2900 and Health Savings Embedded Blue EPO Silver 3950 HSA. These options provide some flexibility for you when searching for health insurance.
Cheapest health insurance plan by county
The cheapest Silver health insurance policy in Kent, New Castle and Sussex counties is the Health Savings Embedded Blue EPO Silver 3950 HSA plan. To help you find the best health insurance for your financial situation, we have listed all Silver policies in Delaware, along with their average cost for a 30-year-old and cost-sharing features. We recommend using the table below to compare the Silver health plans available and determine the appropriate coverage as compared to monthly rates.
Average cost of health insurance by family size in Delaware
Health insurance costs are very dependent on the number of people insured under the policy, as well as their ages.
For example, if you wanted to add a 40-year-old adult to your Silver health insurance in Delaware, it would cost on average $535 — this is $215 more than if you wanted to add a child age 14 or younger. So, expanding a health insurance policy to cover a family of five, as opposed to a family of four, would only increase your monthly cost by $320 on average.
| Family size | Average monthly cost of health plan |
|---|---|
| Individual + Child | $855 |
| Couple age 40 | $1,069 |
| Family of three (Adult couple and a child) | $1,389 |
| Family of four (Adult couple and two children) | $1,709 |
| Family of five (Adult couple and three children) | $2,029 |
Methodology
Health insurance rates and plans in Delaware were downloaded from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services government website. Using the premiums for each policy, ValuePenguin calculated average values for a variety of factors, including metal tier, family size and county.
Sterling Price is a research analyst at ValuePenguin specializing in health and life insurance. He graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelors degree in Finance and Accounting and has previous experience as a licensed life insurance representative.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.