Arizona Health Insurance

What could be more amazing than the Grand Canyon in Arizona is having affordable health insurance. Many Arizona residents qualify for financial assistance to obtain private health insurance under the Obamacare Program. You can even get free or low-cost health insurance in Arizona through public programs like Medicaid.

The Affordable Care Act’s Impact in Arizona

Like most states, Arizona has seen an increase in the number of insured residents with the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called Obamacare. In 2013, when the first open enrollment in the health insurance market began, Arizona had 1.1 million uninsured residents. By 2016, that number had dropped to 681,000, resulting in a 39.1 percent decrease in the uninsured population in Arizona.

The uninsured population in Arizona is now 11 percent (as of 2018), which is slightly higher than the US average of 9 percent. 2

Another way the ACA has helped Arizona residents is by expanding Medicaid. In 2014, Arizona accepted federal funds to expand its Medicaid program for people with incomes up to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Due to the expansion, 432,100 adults have access to free or low-cost health insurance through the state's Medicaid program known as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS).

Register in the Arizona Health Insurance Marketplace

Arizona uses the federally managed Marketplace website at Healthcare.gov for open enrollment, which runs every year from November 1 through December 15. This enrollment period is for individual and family health insurance plans regulated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). You can also access these plans if you are self-employed and do not have employees.

Registration in the Arizona market has declined every year since 2015, when the number of subscribers peaked at approximately 206,000. For the 2019 coverage year, just over 160,000 residents signed up for Arizona health insurance marketplace plans, down slightly from the previous year, when nearly 166,000 people enrolled.

In addition to registering through the Healthcare.gov Public Exchange, you can get eligible ACA coverage in the private market. This includes purchasing health insurance directly from a private insurance company or contacting a licensed insurance agent.

Arizona corporations offer individual and family plans

For 2021, five health insurance in Arizona offer individual and family plans inside and outside the federal market:

1. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
2. Bright Health Company of Arizona
3. Cigna Healthcare of Arizona
4. Health Net of Arizona
5. Oscar Health Plan

The costs of health insurance in Arizona

For 2021 premiums, the state agreed to a 1.82% rate increase for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona, a 9.33% increase for Bright Health Company in Arizona, a 1.87% increase for Cigna Healthcare of Arizona, a decrease of 0.8% for Arizona Health Net and a decrease of 6.75% for Oscar's health plan. 5

In the prior year, Arizona residents were unlikely to experience any increase in individual and family plan costs for 2020 compared to the prior year.

Arizona's average monthly premium for the 2020 Silver Market Plan was $ 442, down from $ 471 for 2019. You can pay much less if you qualify for government benefits.

For example, a 30-year-old from Mesa, Arizona, can earn $ 30,000 a year and can pay $ 199 after benefits ($ 355 before benefits) for a Silver Obamaker plan.