Best Cheap Health Insurance in Idaho 2023

You can purchase cheap health insurance in Idaho through the Your Health Idaho health insurance marketplace or acquire coverage by applying to Medicaid.

The Moda Select Silver 6400 + Vision Exam plan offered by Moda Health is the cheapest Silver health plan available in Idaho, at $402 per month for a 40-year-old. Although this is the most affordable Silver policy in terms of monthly premiums, it may not be offered in your county, as some health insurance companies do not offer plans in every region of the state.

Cheapest health insurance coverage by metal tier

We compared health insurance plans from the Idaho marketplace to find the lowest-cost options at each metal tier. The table below shows the cheapest individual health insurance plan for each metal tier, along with the monthly cost for a 40-year-old, deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. These policies should be used to help gauge what is affordable based on your financial situation.

If you do not currently have health insurance through your employer or are not enrolled in a federal health insurance plan, then you can purchase coverage through the state exchange. For example, if you own a business and are self-employed, you could find health coverage on the marketplace.

As you can see, health insurance in Idaho is broken down into three different metal tiers: Bronze, Silver and Gold. All metal tiers cover the essential health benefits but differ in the amount that you would spend for that care. The Bronze tier has the cheapest premiums but the highest deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, meaning you would have to spend a lot on medical expenses before most benefits would begin. On the other hand, Silver and Gold plans have more expensive premiums but lower deductibles.

The most influential pricing factor that insurers consider when determining health insurance rates is age. The graph below shows the average cost of health insurance for different age groups at each metal tier of coverage. As you can see, the cost of health insurance is higher for older applicants.

For example, a 40-year-old would pay an average of $105 more per month for a Silver policy than a 21-year-old in Idaho. If you are older than 60, you’ll find that your premiums have an even larger bump in price for the same metal tier of health insurance coverage — 60-year-olds pay 112%, or $544, more per month than 40-year-olds for a Silver plan.

Finding the best health insurance in Idaho

The best health insurance for you will depend on the availability of plans in your area, as well as your health and financial situation. Expanded Medicaid is available in Idaho, which means that anyone with a household income of less than 138% of the federal poverty level can apply for the program. You may also qualify if you are over 65 or have a health condition.

When evaluating health plans, you should begin by comparing policy premiums and out-of-pocket maximums to determine what is affordable for your situation. Typically, if you expect to have moderate to high medical expenses throughout the year, you should purchase an upper-tier policy with a smaller deductible but more expensive premiums.

Gold: Best if you expect high medical costs

Gold metal tier policies are the most expensive health insurance plans in Idaho in terms of monthly premiums. However, these plans can be cost-effective if you have a lot of medical costs due to the lower deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. For example, if you needed to have a prescription filled monthly for an expensive drug, then you would reach the low deductible level quickly and begin coinsurance or copays with your insurance provider.

The cheapest Gold plan in Idaho is the Confident Care Gold 1 from Molina Healthcare. Compare all tiers in Idaho above.

Silver: Best for affordable premiums and average deductibles

We recommend Silver plans in most situations since these health insurance policies have modest premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.

All health insurance policies except Catastrophic plans offer premium tax credits, but Silver policies in Idaho are also eligible for cost-sharing reductions if your household income falls below 250% of the federal poverty level. This benefit lowers the amount you pay in coinsurance, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. For this reason, Silver plans can be the most cost-effective health insurance policies if you are eligible for cost-sharing reductions.

The cheapest Silver plan in Idaho is the Moda Select Silver 6400 + Vision Exam, though other plans may be more affordable depending on where you live. Compare all tiers in Idaho above.

Bronze: Best for low-income and healthy applicants

The cheapest tier on the health insurance marketplace in Idaho is Bronze. This policy tier has low monthly premiums but also high deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. This means that you would need to spend a lot on medical expenses out of pocket before you would gain access to coinsurance. For this reason, you should only consider this plan if you are healthy and don't expect any costly health care expenses.

The cheapest Bronze plan in Idaho is the Moda Select Bronze 8900 + Vision Exam. Compare all tiers in Idaho above.

Short-term health insurance in Idaho

Traditional short-term health insurance plans are available for purchase in Idaho through insurers outside the state insurance marketplace. The state allows for these types of policies to have term lengths of up to one year but does not permit the plan to be renewed after the initial term.

Short-term health insurance plans in Idaho, like those in other states, are not required to provide the same level of coverage as marketplace health insurance policies. Therefore, they may not cover the essential health benefits, and you may not receive coverage for the treatment of preexisting conditions.

Idaho insurers can also offer "enhanced" short-term health insurance plans. These are guaranteed-issue and can be renewed for up to 36 months. But they're typically more expensive than their "traditional" short-term health plan alternatives.

Health insurance companies in Idaho

Eight companies currently provide health insurance on Idaho’s state exchange:

As we mentioned earlier, Moda Health offers the Moda Select Silver 6400 + Vision Exam, which is the cheapest Silver health insurance policy available in Idaho. However, you should explore policies from other companies even if they have more expensive premiums, as those providers could offer exclusive benefits to their policyholders. This includes extras like gym membership discounts or rewards for participating in healthy activities.

Cheapest Silver plan by county

Along with your age, the county you live in could affect your health insurance premiums. Furthermore, some companies may not offer any policies in your area. For example, Blue Cross of Idaho, Mountain Health, PacificSource and Regence are available in all of Idaho's counties. But Molina can be found in only seven. For this reason, we recommend you check and compare prices for health insurance and then choose a company that works best for you.

Methodology

We retrieved health insurance rates and plan details from Idaho's state exchange, Your Health Idaho. After we had the premiums, we determined the average cost of health insurance by county, metal tier and age. Additionally, we used the data to identify the cheapest plans in the state, depending on the needs of the consumer.