Best Cheap Health Insurance in Missouri (2023)

The cheapest Silver health insurance plans in most of the state are offered by Ambetter. Two of its plans, the Ambetter Complete Silver and the Ambetter Clear Silver, are the cheapest options in a combined 75% of counties.

On the Missouri health insurance exchange, there are four tiers of coverage to choose from based on your financial and medical needs. The Silver metal tier stands out for offering subsidized out-of-pocket spending depending on your income level.

Cheapest health insurance by plan tier

We compared Missouri health insurance policies by plan tier to help you with your search for your best coverage. These particular policies may not be available or the cheapest in your county since the best health insurance plans differ by region, but they can still be used as a baseline in comparing the different costs and benefits of each coverage tier.

While the WellFirst plans offered by SSM Health Insurance Co. are the cheapest, except in the Silver tier, they are only available in three counties.

Generally, a higher metal tier health plan means more expensive monthly premiums but lower out-of-pocket costs. For example, the WellFirst Bronze Value Copay 9050X plan has a monthly premium of $338, which is $133 less per month than the premium for the cheapest Silver plan, the Aetna Silver 2. However, the Silver plan offers cheaper out-of-pocket costs, with a deductible $7,550 lower than that of the Bronze plan.

Regardless of which plan tier you choose, your monthly health insurance rates increase with age. For example, a 60-year-old pays 112% more on average than a 40-year-old in Missouri for the same Silver health plan. This means a 60-year-old would pay $703 more per month on average for a Silver health plan.

Finding your best health insurance coverage in Missouri

The Missouri health insurance marketplace offers policies in the following four tiers: Catastrophic, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Higher metal tier health plans, like Gold policies, typically have the most expensive premiums but affordable out-of-pocket expenses, like deductibles, copays and coinsurance.

This means if you have high recurring medical costs, like prescriptions, or think you may need medical care, a higher metal tier plan may be the best option for you. On the other hand, if you are young, healthy and have no expected medical costs — and can cover the higher cost-sharing — a lower metal tier policy may be the best choice for you.

Gold plans: Best for high expected medical costs

On average, the cheapest Gold plan in Missouri is the WellFirst Gold Value Copay 4000X. Compare all tiers in Missouri above.

If you use or expect to use your insurance often, Gold health insurance plans are typically the most cost-effective since they often have the smallest out-of-pocket costs. If you use your insurance often, the lower deductibles and copays can balance out the expensive monthly premiums.

Ultimately, Gold plans are best if you have high expected medical costs, such as chronic conditions that require regular medical attention, or are concerned about being able to pay out of pocket for an unexpected condition.

Silver plans: Best for those with low incomes or average medical costs

The cheapest Silver plan on average in Missouri is the Aetna Silver 2. However, this plan isn't as widely available as other Silver plans. The cheapest Silver plans in a combined 75% of counties are the Ambetter Complete Silver and the Ambetter Clear Silver. Compare all tiers in Missouri above.

Silver plans are a good health insurance option for those looking for a balance between costs and benefits. However, these health plans can still be quite costly if you don't qualify for premium subsidies, which are available for all marketplace plans except Catastrophic plans. Silver plans have the added benefit of cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies, which are no longer funded by the federal government but are still available to lower your expenses if you qualify.

If you are part of a lower-income household, you may qualify for CSR subsidies with a Silver health plan, which would further lower your out-of-pocket expenses. Typical Silver plans cover about 70% of your health care costs, while you pay 30%. But under CSR subsidies, you could qualify for a Silver plan that covers up to 94% of your health care costs.

Bronze and Catastrophic plans: Best for young, healthy people

The cheapest Bronze plan in Missouri is the WellFirst Bronze Value Copay 9050X. The cheapest Catastrophic plan is the WellFirst Catastrophic Safety Net. Compare all tiers in Missouri above.

Bronze and Catastrophic plans typically have less expensive premiums compared to Silver and Gold plans. However, you must be under 30 years old or qualify for an exemption to buy a Catastrophic plan, and Catastrophic plans are not eligible for premium subsidies. These cheap policies come with lower coverage, meaning higher out-of-pocket costs.

If you need medical care during the year, you would have to pay more money yourself in deductibles and copays before the policy provides coverage. We don’t recommend Bronze or Catastrophic policies unless you can afford the higher deductibles, copays and coinsurance in the case of a medical emergency.

Medicaid

In 2021, Missouri passed a bill that expanded Medicaid to approximately 275,000 people in the state through MO HealthNet. For example, under the new law, a single adult who does not make more than $18,756 per year, or a family of four that does not make more than $38,304, could qualify for Medicaid coverage.

Health insurance rate changes in Missouri

In Missouri, health insurance providers adjust their premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums annually depending on a variety of factors. These changes are then reported to federal and state regulators to be approved.

From 2022 to 2023, the cost of health insurance for all plan tiers increased in Missouri. The cost of Bronze plans increased the most, rising by 24%. Catastrophic plans cost 8% more and Gold plans are 3% more expensive in 2023.

Short-term health insurance in Missouri

You can buy short-term health insurance in Missouri through off-exchange health insurance providers. Federal regulations for these plans allow coverage lengths of up to one year, but Missouri limits short-term plans to only six months. However, you can renew a plan after the first coverage period.

Short-term health insurance can be useful if you miss the chance to buy a marketplace plan during open enrollment or lose your previous health insurance coverage. But it is important to know that short-term policies typically do not cover all the essential benefits that Affordable Care Act plans do. This can include guaranteed benefits like maternity care and prescription drug services.

Best cheap health insurance companies in Missouri

There are currently nine health insurance companies that serve Missouri's health insurance marketplace:

Many counties only have a couple of insurers for residents to choose a health plan from, but some of the larger counties, including Jackson and Clay in the Kansas City metro area, have several insurers available. Despite the limited selection of health insurance companies in most counties, a range of plans in different metal tiers is available to help you tailor your coverage.

We recommend starting your search with Ambetter, as it offers the cheapest Silver plan in 78% of counties.

Cheapest health insurance plan by county

Finding the best health plan for you can be challenging since the selection of plans and their costs can change depending on the region where you live.

To make this process simpler, we compared rates for every Silver policy in Missouri to find the cheapest Silver health plan in each county.

Average cost of health insurance by family size in Missouri

The number of people covered by a particular health insurance plan and their ages contribute to the cost of coverage. When you add a child to your health insurance plan, the price increases by a flat rate until they are 15 years old. Once they reach age 15, the monthly rate increases as they grow older.

For instance, the average insurance cost for a family of three in Missouri, assuming two 40-year-old parents and one child on a Silver plan, is $1,627. If you were to add another child to the plan, the monthly premium would increase by roughly $375. So for a family of four, the total monthly cost of health coverage would be about $2,001.

Recap of the best cheap health insurance in Missouri

Frequently asked questions

Methodology

Health insurance rates, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums were aggregated from data found on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) government website. ValuePenguin used the public use files (PUFs) to find average values by age, plan tier, family size and county to better understand the health insurance marketplace in Missouri. Plans and providers for which county-level data was included in the CMS Crosswalk file were used in our analysis; those excluded from this data set may not appear.