Best Cheap Health Insurance in Idaho (2025)
Select Health has the best health insurance in Idaho. Silver plans from Select Health start at $461 per month before discounts.
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Best and cheapest health insurance in Idaho
Cheapest health insurance companies in Idaho
Blue Cross of Idaho sells the cheapest Silver plans in the state, with rates starting at $412 per month.
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Affordable health insurance in Idaho
Company |
Cost
| |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross of Idaho | $412 - $528 |
| Moda | $426 - $538 |
| Molina | $426 - $501 |
| Mountain Health CO-OP | $434 - $565 |
- Blue Cross of Idaho sells the cheapest Silver plans in Idaho. Blue Cross is also the most popular company in Idaho, selling about half of all health insurance plans in the state.
- Bronze plans give you cheaper rates than Silver plans but require you to pay more toward your medical bills. For most people, a Silver plan is a better option. But if you want a Bronze plan, Moda is the cheapest for most people.
- In most big cities, Moda is the cheapest company. Moda has the cheapest rates in Boise, Meridian, Nampa and Caldwell.
Cheapest Bronze plans in Idaho: Moda
If you want a Bronze plan for its cheaper rates, Moda is a good option.
Moda's Bronze plans start at $298 per month before discounts. Blue Cross of Idaho technically has cheaper Bronze plans, but only about 4 in 10 people have access to them. Almost half of Idaho's population can get a cheap Bronze plan from Moda, and it has the cheapest Bronze plans in the state's largest city, Boise, and other major cities like Meridian and Nampa.
Bronze is the most popular plan level in Idaho, but these plans have major drawbacks. Bronze plans have the cheapest monthly rates but you'll have to pay more when you go to the doctor or fill a prescription.
Bronze plans usually only make sense if you're young, mostly healthy and don't need medical care. If you get a Bronze plan, make sure to have savings in the bank to pay for the higher share of your medical bills.
Best health insurance companies in Idaho
Select Health has the best health insurance plans in Idaho.
Select Health has excellent customer service, with 91% fewer complaints than an average company its size. That means that most people are very happy with the customer service they get from Select Health.
Select Health also has a 4-star rating, the highest in the state, from HealthCare.gov. It gets a perfect 5-star rating for customer experience.
Almost everyone in Idaho can get a plan from Select Health. The company's plans are available to about 89% of Idaho's population.
Best-rated health insurance companies in Idaho
Company |
Editor rating
|
ACA rating
|
|---|---|---|
| Select Health | 4.0 | |
| Regence | 3.5 | |
| Blue Cross of Idaho | 3.0 | |
| Mountain Health CO-OP | 3.0 | |
| Moda | NA |
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How much does health insurance cost in Idaho?
The average cost of health insurance in Idaho is $490 per month, but you could pay $77 per month, on average, if you get discounts based on your income.
- Your rate changes based on your age and what plan tier you buy. It also depends on the number of people you insure on your plan, the company you choose, whether or not you use tobacco and where you live in Idaho.
- Bronze plans usually have the cheapest monthly rates. That's because they cover the lowest amount of your medical bills. Higher-tier plans, like Gold and Platinum, cost more because they pay for more of your medical bills.
Get affordable health insurance in Idaho with subsidies
If you get discounts based on your income, you could pay an average of $77 for health insurance in Idaho.
Most people — more than 8 in 10 — who shop for a plan on Your Health Idaho, Idaho's state health insurance marketplace, qualify for savings because of their income. About a quarter of people who buy a plan on Your Health Idaho pay less than $10 per month because of discounts.
- What they are: You can get discounts on your monthly rate if you have a low income. The discounts are called subsidies or tax credits.
- How to qualify: If you're single, you have to make between $15,606 and $60,240 per year to get subsidies. For a family of four, the range is $31,200 to $124,800 per year. The lower your income, the bigger your discount. If you can get Medicaid, you can't get subsidies.
- How to use them: You can use a subsidy to lower the rate of any Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum plan (but not Catastrophic plans) from any health insurance company in Idaho. You have to shop on Your Health Idaho to get the discounts.
If you get subsidies, you might also get other discounts that make your medical bills cheaper. They're called cost-sharing reductions and they're only available if you get a Silver plan. Subsidies lower your monthly rate, and cost-sharing reductions lower your medical bills.
Cheap Idaho health insurance plans by city
Moda sells the cheapest health insurance in Boise, Idaho.
Moda also has the cheapest Silver plans in Meridian, Nampa and Caldwell. But Blue Cross of Idaho, Molina, Mountain Health CO-OP and Regence also have cheap rates, depending on where you live.
Cheapest health insurance by ID county
County | Cheapest plan | Monthly rates |
|---|---|---|
| Ada | Moda Select Silver 6400 | $426 |
| Adams | Moda Select Silver 6400 | $426 |
| Bannock | Molina Silver 12 | $446 |
| Bear Lake | Regence IAFN Silver 6200 | $453 |
| Benewah | Blue Cross KCN North Silver 4000 | $412 |
Cheapest Silver plan with rates for a 40-year-old
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Best health insurance by level of coverage
The best health insurance for you depends on how much medical care you need, your monthly budget and the plans available where you live.
To choose a health insurance plan, start by thinking about how often you go to a doctor and how expensive your treatments are. If you go to the doctor often, a Gold or Platinum plan might be the best choice. But if you're healthy and don't need much health care, a Silver or Bronze plan could be better.
Platinum plans: Best if you have high medical costs
| Platinum plans pay for about 90% of your medical care. |
Platinum health insurance plans have the highest monthly rates in Idaho. But these plans can be a good idea if you have a lot of medical costs because they let you pay less when you get care. Platinum plans have the lowest deductibles, coinsurance and copays.
Overall, the most you could spend on medical care, called the out-of-pocket maximum, is the lowest with Platinum plans.
Platinum plans cost $560 per month, on average, in Idaho.
Gold plans: Best if you need frequent medical care
| Gold plans pay for about 80% of your medical care. |
Gold plans also pay for a large portion of your medical bills. But they're a bit cheaper than Platinum plans. If you need frequent medical care or think you might have expensive medical bills in the coming year, a Gold plan might be a good idea.
In Idaho, Gold plans cost $518 per month, on average.
Silver plans: Best for most people
| Silver plans pay for about 70% of your medical care. |
Silver plans are a good option if you have average medical needs. They're a middle-ground option that balances moderate rates with good coverage. Plus, if you have a low income, you might get extra discounts called cost-sharing reductions that make your medical bills cheaper.
Silver plans cost an average of $490 per month in Idaho.
Bronze plans: Best if you're mostly healthy
| Bronze plans pay for about 60% of your medical care. |
Bronze plans have low rates because they make you pay more when you go to the doctor. Because you'll pay a higher share of your medical bills, you should take a close look at your finances before buying a Bronze plan. Make sure you can afford to pay the higher costs if something serious happens. You could pay up to $9,200 per year toward your medical bills if you buy a Bronze plan.
Even though they're not the best option for most people, Bronze plans are the most popular plan tier in Idaho. About half of everyone who buys a plan on Your Health Idaho buys a Bronze plan.
Like other plan levels, Bronze covers preventive care for free. Some Bronze plans also cover things like generic prescriptions or urgent care visits for free or a reduced fee before you meet the deductible. When you shop for a Bronze plan, look at the benefits of the plan before the deductible is met. This could help you get the best coverage.
Bronze plans cost $363 per month, on average, in Idaho.
Catastrophic plans: Best as a last resort
Catastrophic plans are only a good idea if you can't afford anything else and you can't get Medicaid. You have to pay a very large share of your medical bills with a Catastrophic plan, and you also can't use subsidies to make the monthly rate cheaper. Catastrophic plans are better than not having any health insurance, but you'll be better off with a Bronze or Silver plan, especially if you qualify for rate discounts.
You can only get a Catastrophic plan if you're under 30 or qualify for an exemption. This essentially means that something happened to prevent you from getting better health insurance. For example, you might qualify for a financial or hardship exemption if you can't afford any other type of health insurance, were homeless, got evicted or experienced a natural disaster.
A 21-year-old pays an average of $226 per month for a Catastrophic plan in Idaho.
Cheap or free health insurance in Idaho if you have a low income
You might be able to get free health insurance through Idaho's Medicaid program if you have a low income. If you can't get Medicaid, buying a Silver plan could be a good idea, because you can get a few different types of low-income discounts.
Medicaid in Idaho
Medicaid is cheap or free health insurance from the government. You might qualify if you make less than about $21,000 per year if you're single or $44,000 per year if you're part of a family of four.
Although Medicaid is mostly for people with low incomes, you might also qualify if you have a disability, are blind or are a woman with breast or cervical cancer.
Use cost-sharing reductions for cheaper medical care
If you have a low income, a Silver plan might also be a good option. If you make between $15,060 and $37,650 per year as a single person or between $31,200 and $78,000 per year as a family of four, you can get discounts called cost-sharing reductions. These discounts lower your plan's deductible, copay, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum costs, so you pay for less of your health care. You can only get CSRs on Silver plans.
If you qualify for cost-sharing reductions, you can probably also get subsidies that make your monthly rate cheaper. But keep in mind that if you can get Medicaid, you can't get rate subsidies or cost-sharing reductions.
Are health insurance rates going up in ID?
Overall, health insurance rates in Idaho went up slightly between 2024 and 2025.
Bronze plans, the most popular plan level in the state, went up the most, 5% more in 2025 than 2024. But Platinum plans got 5% cheaper for 2025. Silver and Gold plans went up by about 3% and 4%, respectively.
Tier | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | $347 | $363 | 5% |
| Silver | $473 | $490 | 3% |
| Gold | $499 | $518 | 4% |
| Platinum | $590 | $560 | -5% |
Monthly costs are for a 40-year-old.
Idaho's health insurance rates have stayed steady partly because of the state's "Reinsurance Waiver." Usually, health insurance companies pay claims for everyone, including people with expensive health needs. But with Idaho's Reinsurance Waiver, money is set aside in a separate program to pay the claims for people with expensive medical needs. This helps companies keep rates lower. And nothing changes for shoppers; they still have health insurance through the company of their choosing. Everything happens behind the scenes, and your coverage works like normal.
To get health insurance in Idaho, you can shop on Your Health Idaho between Oct. 15 and Dec. 16 every year. You might be able to get a plan outside this window if you've moved, gotten married, had a baby or experienced another qualifying life change.
COBRA insurance in Idaho
COBRA costs an average of $717 per month in Idaho.
It's almost always cheaper to get a plan from Your Health Idaho, the state's health insurance marketplace, than to get COBRA insurance. A plan from Your Health Idaho costs $490 per month, on average. Even a Platinum plan, which covers the largest share of your medical bills of any plan tier, costs $560 per month, on average. That's still $157 cheaper than COBRA.
COBRA insurance lets you keep the health insurance plan you had at a job when you leave, are fired or retire. Usually, coverage lasts up to a year and a half, but it can sometimes last up to three years.
But your employer won't chip in to pay part of the monthly rate anymore. You have to pay the full cost for a plan, which is why COBRA tends to be expensive.
Short-term health insurance in Idaho
If you only need coverage for a short period of time, you can buy short-term health insurance in Idaho. Plans aren't available on the state's health insurance marketplace, though. You have to buy coverage directly from a short-term health insurance company.
Pros of short-term health insurance in Idaho
Cons of short-term health insurance in Idaho
Idaho used to sell a special kind of short-term plan called an "enhanced" plan. They could last up to a year and could be continued for up to three years. And insurance companies also couldn't refuse to sell you an enhanced plan, even if you have health issues. You can't get enhanced plans anymore because they don't meet the new federal rules for short-term health insurance.
Frequently asked questions
How much does health insurance cost per month in Idaho?
Health insurance in Idaho costs an average of $490 per month for a Silver plan. But the average rate is $77 per month if you get discounts based on your income. Your rate depends on the company you pick, your age, the plan tier you buy, where you live, how many people you want the plan to cover, and whether or not you smoke or use tobacco.
Does Idaho have the Affordable Care Act insurance?
Yes. You can buy Affordable Care Act plans, also called Obamacare plans, from Idaho's state marketplace, Your Health Idaho.
When can I buy health insurance in Idaho?
Open enrollment in Idaho starts on Oct. 15 and ends Dec. 16. That's earlier than in most states, which let you buy health insurance between Nov. 1 and Jan 15. If you've recently moved, gotten married, had a child or otherwise qualified for a special enrollment period, you can buy health insurance outside of the open enrollment time frame.
Methodology and sources
ValuePenguin sourced 2025 health insurance rates and plan details from Idaho's state exchange, Your Health Idaho. Using the data, our experts determined the average cost of health insurance by county, plan tier and age and more. Monthly costs are for a 40-year-old with a Silver plan, unless a different age or plan level is mentioned.
Subsidized plan rates are from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) data for all consumers who shopped during 2024 open enrollment and got advance premium tax credits (APTCs).
Info about the most popular plan level and COBRA in Idaho came from KFF. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and S&P Global Capital IQ were also used as sources.
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.