In about three weeks, the Obamacare Health Insurance Marketplaces will begin servicing individual and small business customers with promises of "affordable care."
Avalere Health has completed a study of the policies being offered nationwide and come up with five observations:
- Consumers will get to choose from four levels of coverage, representing out-of-pocket expenses. A bronze plan covers 60 percent of medical expenses, a silver plan 70 percent, a gold 80 percent and a platinum 90 percent. Monthly premiums rise accordingly.
- Monthly premiums for the least-expensive silver plans average $336, with the cheapest being in Maryland at $187 and the most expensive being in Vermont at $383.
- Within any given state, premiums for silver plans can vary widely from insurer to insurer, with a typical gap being $418 between costliest and least costliest plans in New York.
- About 80 percent of those customers using the exchanges will be eligible for generous government subsidies to help purchase their insurance.
- People with incomes between 100 and 250 percent of the federal poverty level will save more by buying the silver plan than the bronze plan due to a healthier government subsidy for the better plan.