Best Cheap Health Insurance in Hawaii (2023)

KP HI Silver 4000/45 from Kaiser Permanente is the cheapest Silver health plan in every county in Hawaii. However, Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) offers the lowest-cost Catastrophic, Gold and Platinum health plans in Hawaii, making it the most affordable insurer for some of the more basic or comprehensive policies.

Hawaii residents can often find affordable coverage options on the health insurance exchange.

Cheapest health insurance by plan tier

With five different plan tiers offered in Hawaii, knowing which coverage to choose can be difficult. To help with your search, we compared all of the policies in Hawaii to find the most affordable health insurance option at each level of coverage offered on the health insurance exchange.

As you can see above, health plans with higher monthly premiums tend to have lower out-of-pocket costs if you do use your insurance.

For example, the monthly premium on the cheapest Bronze plan for a 40-year-old in Hawaii is $330, which is $231 cheaper than the premium for the cheapest Platinum plan. But the cheapest Bronze plan has a $6,500 deductible, whereas the Platinum plan has a $0 deductible.

Metal tier and age are two important factors when insurers determine the actual cost of your health insurance plan. As the plan tier becomes higher, your coverage increases, but your monthly premium typically increases as well. And as you get older, your monthly premium will increase, regardless of the health insurance policy you choose.

A 21-year-old, for instance, would pay $285 per month on average for a Bronze plan in Hawaii, while a 40-year-old would pay $79 more for the same coverage. On a Silver plan, on the other hand, a 40-year-old's health insurance rate would be $105 more per month than a 21-year-old's.

Finding your best health insurance coverage in Hawaii

The best health insurance plan for you in Hawaii will depend on your coverage needs and personal financial situation. Typically, higher metal tier policies have pricier monthly premiums, but they also provide lower out-of-pocket expenses, like deductibles, copays and coinsurance.

This means a Gold or Platinum health plan can be a cost-effective choice if you think you may become sick or you already have high recurring medical costs, like prescriptions. Alternatively, if you're young and healthy, a lower metal tier may help you reduce your monthly premiums while keeping you insured in case of any medical emergencies.

Gold and Platinum plans: Best for high expected medical costs

The cheapest Gold plan in Hawaii is the HMSA Gold PPO II. The cheapest Platinum plan is the HMSA Platinum PPO, which costs $121 more per month for a 40-year-old but has a $0 deductible. Compare all tiers in Hawaii above.

Platinum and Gold policies are considered higher metal tier health plans and cover the greatest share of out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles, copays and coinsurance. These benefits come at the expense of a higher monthly premium.

Generally, Gold and Platinum health insurance plans are the most cost-effective if you expect to incur high medical expenses for chronic conditions or if you have costly prescriptions. On average, you can expect a Gold plan to cover roughly 80% of your health care expenses, while you pay the other 20%.

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

The cheapest Silver plan in Hawaii is the KP HI Silver 4000/45, which costs $471 per month for a 40-year-old. Compare all tiers in Hawaii above.

Silver policies offer a middle ground between higher metal tier plans, like Platinum or Gold, and lower metal tier plans, like Bronze. And lower-income households can qualify for cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies with a Silver health plan, which further lowers 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 Hawaii is the KP HI Bronze 6500/30%. The cheapest Catastrophic plan is the HMSA Catastrophic Plan. Compare all tiers in Hawaii above.

Catastrophic plans may offer the lowest monthly rates, but they are limited to those under 30 or those who qualify for an exemption. Catastrophic plans also are not eligible for premium tax credits. Tthese plans provide the least coverage and are only recommended if you have the financial means to cover a large portion of your health care expenses in case of an emergency.

For example, the HMSA Catastrophic Plan has a deductible of $9,100, which is $5,100 more than the deductible of the KP HI Silver 4000/45 plan.

Bronze plans are open to everyone and similarly offer cheaper monthly premiums than Silver plans alongside reduced coverage and higher out-of-pocket costs. So if you need medical care during the year, you have to pay more money out of pocket before coverage kicks in.

On average, you can expect a Bronze plan to cover about 60% of your health care costs, while you pay for the other 40%.

Health insurance rate changes in Hawaii

In Hawaii, health insurance providers update their premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums on a yearly basis. These changes are then submitted to federal regulators to be approved for the following plan year.

For 2023, the cost of Bronze health insurance plans increased the most, by 17% over the previous year. The average quote for Gold and Platinum plans also increased, while premiums for Catastrophic and Silver plans decreased from 2022.

Health insurance companies in Hawaii

Before 2016, Hawaii had a state-run health exchange, but then the state decided to use the federal system instead. On the federal exchange, you will find two health insurance companies for Hawaii: Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) and Kaiser Permanente. Although both companies offer health insurance plans in each of the five counties in Hawaii, Kaiser does not offer any Catastrophic plans in the state.

Cheapest health insurance plan by county

Although the cheapest Silver health insurance plan in every county is the KP HI Silver 4000/45, the best plan for you depends on your personal medical circumstances. In the table below, you can find the cheapest Silver plan in each county as well as sample monthly premiums for an individual, a couple and a family of three.

Average cost of health insurance by family size in Hawaii

In addition to the coverage tier, the size of your family and the age of each person will affect your monthly health insurance premium. The cost of insuring a child remains flat until they turn 15 years old, after which the monthly health plan premium will increase annually as they get older.

The average cost of a Silver health insurance policy for a family of three, assuming two 40-year-old parents and a child 14 years old or younger, is $1,254 in Hawaii. For each child, the average cost of a policy increases by about $289. So a family of five, assuming two adults and three children, would cost an average of $1,831 per month to insure.

Methodology

The rate and health plan data for Hawaii used in this analysis was sourced from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website. ValuePenguin used the CMS public use files (PUFs) in order to average premiums across a variety of factors such as plan tier, age, county and family size. 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.