It should be easy to pick the best health insurance plan during the open enrollment period. But with so many different options, it can be very confusing to identify the perfect plan for your needs. The fact is that there is no single “one-size-fits-all” health insurance solution that works for everyone. So here are a few tips to help you pick the best plan for your needs.

Pick Your Medal

There are four main plan levels available in the exchanges. In general, each level corresponds to how much you will pay out of pocket versus how much the insurance plan will pay. These four levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

Bronze Plans

Bronze plans offer the lowest monthly premium combined with the highest out of pocket cost when you receive health services. Typically, a Bronze plan will cover 60% of your medical costs. This is a great option if you think you are not going to need medical services, but you want to have a safety net in case you suffer from a serious injury or illness during the year.

Silver Plans

With Silver plans you will have a slightly higher monthly premium, and in turn your insurance will cover approximately 70% of your medical costs. If you anticipate that you will need more routine care throughout the year, then the Silver plan may be more appropriate than the Bronze.

Gold Plans

Gold plans have a high monthly premium, but also have much lower costs out of pocket when you receive care. If you anticipate needing to use your health insurance a lot during the year, you will likely realize a cost-savings by purchasing a Gold plan. Even with the higher premium, the benefit of the lower deductible can be a budget saver.

Platinum Plans

With the highest monthly premium, this level of coverage is great if you anticipate needing a lot of health service during the year. While you will have to pay a lot on a monthly basis, most of your other costs will be covered by the insurance.

Regardless of which medal level you pick, you may qualify for a subsidy that offsets the monthly premium.

Picking the Plan Type

Within each medal level there are also different plan types. Two of the most common are Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans. Additionally, there are also Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) plans. Basically, the difference between HMO and PPO plans boils down to the size of the plan network, ability to see specialists, plan costs, and coverage for out-of-network services. An EPO plan is a model that takes the flexibility of a PPO with some of the cost-savings of an HMO.

You can learn more about these plan types by reading our blog post HMO, PPO, or EPO… I Just Don’t Know.

Comparing Options in the Marketplace

How do you compare health insurance plans? This is the easiest step! Now that you have enough knowledge to understand what type of coverage fits your needs, you can use plan navigators, like KeenanDirect, to compare plans side-by-side to see the actual costs. These types of platforms help you compare the types of coverage, different costs (e.g., premiums, deductibles, etc.), as well as help you identify if you qualify for a subsidy to offset costs.

We want to make sure that you find the health insurance plan that fits your budget as well as provides you with the services that you will need. So, whether or not you use an online shopping tool to compare plans, you can always contact a KeenanDirect customer service representative who can answer your questions.