Best Cheap Health Insurance in Massachusetts 2023

If you are shopping for individual health insurance in Massachusetts, you can get cheap coverage through the state's online exchange. In the marketplace, you may be able to find a policy that fits your financial situation and provides adequate coverage for your medical needs.

Cheapest health insurance by metal tier

To help you find the best health insurance in Massachusetts, we compared health plans offered in the largest counties to find the most affordable option for each metal tier of coverage.

When a health insurance provider calculates your monthly premium, age is a key factor. As you can see from the graph below, for every metal tier, the monthly premium gets more expensive as your age increases.

For example, for a Silver policy, a 40-year-old will pay on average $83 more per month than a 21-year-old. The difference is even larger for a 60-year-old who pays $386 more per month than a 40-year-old.

The table below shows the cheapest plan available along with the monthly premium for a 40-year-old, in addition to the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. These plans should be used to evaluate which metal tier might fit your individual needs.

Gold and Platinum plans are the most expensive policies offered, but they have the lowest or nearly the lowest deductibles available. For example, the Non-Standard Low Gold: WellSense Health Plan Low Gold premium is $158 more per month for a 40-year-old than the cheapest Bronze policy. The Standard High Bronze HSA: WellSense Health Plan Bronze rate is more affordable in part because it has a higher deductible than the Gold plan.

Finding the best health insurance coverage in Massachusetts

The best health insurance coverage for you will be determined by your level of income and expected medical costs. These factors will directly affect which plans will be affordable and appropriate for the medical services you require.

Massachusetts has adopted the expanded version of Medicaid. This allows anyone with a household income of less than 138% of the federal poverty level to enroll in Medicaid. If you are not eligible for this program, you can buy an individual health insurance policy through the Massachusetts state marketplace.

To help you choose a tier level that fits your needs, we have detailed each level of coverage and who it’s best for.

Start with Silver plans

We recommend beginning your health insurance search with Silver metal tier plans. These policies have modest premiums and deductibles. For instance, the cheapest Silver plan has a monthly premium that is $61 more expensive than the cheapest Bronze plan but a deductible that is $1,300 less.

In some situations, a Silver plan can be the most cost-effective health policy due to cost-sharing reductions. These reductions decrease the amount you pay in deductibles, coinsurance and copays. However, you are only eligible for cost-sharing reductions if your household income falls below 250% of the federal poverty level.

Gold and Platinum plans: Great if you have expensive medical costs

Gold and Platinum plans are the most expensive plans on the Massachusetts marketplace in terms of monthly premiums, but they do have lower deductibles and shared costs. For this reason, these policies are best if you expect to have a lot of medical expenses and will use your health insurance often. One such example is if you have an illness and need a costly prescription refilled monthly.

Bronze: Best if you are young and healthy

Bronze plans are the most affordable policies but have higher deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses. Due to the deductible level, you could spend a lot on smaller medical expenses before coverage kicks in.

Bronze is best for young, healthy people who want emergency protection in case of an extremely expensive medical issue.

Short-term health insurance in Massachusetts

You can't buy short-term health insurance in Massachusetts, and it is illegal under Massachusetts law for any company to offer one of these products. The main reason for this is the state's strict guaranteed-issue and rating requirements for all health insurance products. Short-term plans do not meet the guaranteed-issue standard since they are medically underwritten.

Best cheap health insurance companies in Massachusetts

There are currently eight health insurance providers on the Massachusetts exchange.

Massachusetts health insurance companies

Tufts Health Plan Direct offers the most affordable Silver health insurance plan in Massachusetts.

It is important to consider the company that you buy a plan from, as some may provide more member benefits or have better customer service. Although all of these companies sell policies in Massachusetts, a particular insurer may not be available in your county.

Cheapest Silver plan by county

The availability of health insurance, as well as the cost, will be affected by the county you live in. For instance, for a 40-year-old, the Standard Silver: Tufts Health Direct Silver 2000 II is the cheapest Silver plan in Essex County with a monthly premium of $392. However, in Barnstable County, the same Silver plan costs $425 — a difference of $33 per month.

Frequently asked questions

Methodology

We gathered health insurance rates for shoppers in Massachusetts using the state's exchange. Using the premiums, averages are based on a variety of variables such as metal tier, age, family size and county.