Best Cheap Health Insurance in New Hampshire (2026)

Best and cheapest health insurance plans in New Hampshire

Cheapest health insurance companies in New Hampshire

Affordable health insurance plans in New Hampshire

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Best health insurance companies in New Hampshire

Ambetter has a great 5-out-of-5-star rating for member experience from HealthCare.gov. This means customers were satisfied with their health care, their doctors and how easy it was to get appointments.

However, it’s important to note that Ambetter receives far more complaints than expected for a company of its size, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Anthem BCBS also gets mixed reviews. It earned a good 4-out-of-5-star rating from HealthCare.gov, but has both good and bad customer service scores depending on your exact health plan.

Best-rated health insurance companies in New Hampshire

How much is health insurance in New Hampshire?

Health insurance discount changes in New Hampshire for 2026

For people who can get subsidies, rates will increase from about $156 in 2025 to $254 in 2026. That's because the larger discounts called “expanded subsidies” weren’t renewed by Congress for 2026.

Health insurance rates in New Hampshire after subsidies (2025 vs. 2026)

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Affordable health insurance plans in New Hampshire by city

WellSense is the most affordable option in most of the state's major cities, including Manchester, Nashua, Concord, Rochester, Dover and Portsmouth. But in Keene, Ambetter has the cheapest Silver plan.

Cheapest health insurance plans by NH county

Best health insurance by plan tier

Plan tiers have nothing to do with the services you can get. Instead, plan tiers set your monthly rate and the costs you pay when you see the doctor.

Higher plan tiers are typically best for people who have ongoing illnesses. That's because you pay less when you get care. Keep in mind that high plan tiers have expensive monthly rates. This makes Gold plans a poor choice for most people.

Lower plan tiers are a good option if you're healthy and you can afford a large, unexpected medical bill. These plans have cheap quotes but high costs when you go to the hospital.

Gold plans: Best if you have frequent medical needs

A Gold plan is a good choice if you expect to need a lot of medical care in the coming year. That's because these plans pay a larger part of your bills at the doctor's office.

But Gold plans have expensive quotes, which makes them a poor choice for people with average medical needs.

Silver plans: Best for people with average medical needs

A Silver health plan is a good choice for people with fairly average health needs. These plans have middle-of-the-road rates and reasonable costs you're responsible for paying when you get care.

Bronze plans: Best if you are healthy and have savings

Bronze plans are a good option if you can easily cover a large surprise medical bill from your savings and you're young and healthy. These plans have affordable quotes, but you'll have to pay a large deductible before coverage starts for most services.

Catastrophic plans: Best for preventing financial disasters

Catastrophic plans offer bare-bones coverage for a low monthly rate.

Catastrophic plans are almost always a bad idea because of their high deductibles. In addition, catastrophic plans aren't eligible for discounts.

That means you can usually get better coverage at a cheaper price if you make a low income. If you don't earn a low income, it's usually a good idea to pay slightly more for better medical insurance. That's because catastrophic plans offer little protection if you get sick or injured.

You can only buy catastrophic coverage if you're under 30 or you can show that you'd struggle to afford a higher plan tier. Anthem is the only insurance company offering them in 2026.

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Discounted and free health insurance in New Hampshire

NH Medicaid: Best for free health insurance

You may qualify for free health insurance, called Medicaid, if you earn about $21,600 per year or less. You may be eligible for Medicaid at a higher income level if you have children 18 or younger or you're pregnant or disabled.

Silver plans with cost-sharing reductions: Best if you don't qualify for Medicaid

You can get extra discounts, called cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), if you have a Silver health plan and earn between $15,650 and $39,125 per year as an individual. Cost-sharing reductions help you pay for the portion of the bill you're responsible for when you see the doctor, such as your deductible, copays and coinsurance.

Are health insurance rates going up in NH?

Gold plans had the highest increase, costing 36% more for 2026 compared to 2025. Bronze and Silver plans both went up by 32%. This is a big change for New Hampshire. Since 2022, the average price of health insurance in the state for Gold, Silver and Bronze plans often stayed about the same or decreased each year.

Why is health insurance expensive in NH in 2026?

Factors driving up the cost of Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans include more expensive prescription drugs, general inflation, higher health care costs and the end of Biden-era expanded health insurance subsidies.

Tips to save on medical insurance plans in 2026

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Average cost of health insurance plans by family size in New Hampshire

Health insurance costs more when the plan covers more people. For example, a 40-year-old couple pays an average of $982 per month for medical insurance plans in NH. It costs an average of $294 per month to add a child under the age of 15 to the plan. So a family of three pays an average of $1,276 per month.

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Short-term health insurance in New Hampshire

If you need coverage outside open enrollment, it's a good idea to see if you qualify for a special enrollment period.

You may be eligible for a special enrollment period if you've recently:

You also have the option to sign up for if you've recently lost your job. It's important to remember that COBRA plans typically cost more than marketplace coverage.

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Health insurance enrollment by income level in New Hampshire

That's because people with lower incomes are more likely to get a plan from Healthcare.gov. For example, in New Hampshire in 2025, over half of people with a marketplace plan made less than $45,200.

Enrollment by income

Frequently asked questions

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Methodology

New Hampshire health insurance rate data for 2026 is from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website. ValuePenguin used the CMS public use files to find average rates for different plan tiers, geographic locations and family sizes.

Rates

Rates are based on a 40-year-old with a Silver plan, unless otherwise noted. Rates for Bronze plans include regular and Expanded Bronze plans for 2024, 2025 and 2026, when the plans are available. Your costs and plan options will vary; plans aren't always available in all parts of a state or county.

Subsidies

Rates after subsidies are estimates for a 40-year-old with a Benchmark Silver plan and are based on how subsidies were structured before 2021. Prices are calculated using KFF's rates for full-price Benchmark plans, federal poverty levels (FPLs), IRS rules about premium tax credits and Congressional reports about expanded tax credits. The total cost in the state uses rates calculated by income, which are weighted using CMS data on the incomes of those who purchased plans during last year's open enrollment. The median was used for each income range. Unknown incomes were excluded from the calculations. Incomes of 100% of the federal poverty line and 500% of the federal poverty line were assumed for enrollees who earn less than 100% FPL and more than 500% FPL, respectively. Information about state subsidies, when available, was sourced from state marketplaces.

Ratings

ValuePenguin's experts rank companies based on cost, coverage options, customer satisfaction and unique value. Ratings are out of 100 possible points. ACA ratings show how the company performs in New Hampshire for medical care, member experience and plan administration. This 2026 plan quality data from CMS is based on data from last year. Ratings are not available for new plans or plans with low enrollment.

More sources

Enrollment trends, including plan selections by tier and enrollment by income, are from CMS data for the 2025 open enrollment period.

Other sources include KFF, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and S&P Global Capital IQ.