What's the best Health Insurance Plan in 2019?

There are four types of Medical Plans

Looking for last years recommended plans? We kept a copy of our Best Health Insurance Plans in 2018.
The amounts (co-pays) listed in the chart below are what you are responsible to pay when using in-network Doctors and Hospitals.
Key benefits Bronze 60 Silver 70 Gold 80 Platinum 90
  Benefits in Orange are Subject to Deductibles Copays in Black are Not Subject to any Deductible and Count Toward the Anual Out-Of-Pocket Maximum
Individual Deductible $6,300 medical
$500 pharmacy
$2,500 medical
$200 pharmacy
$0 $0
Family Deductible $12,600 medical
$1,000 pharmacy
$5,000 medical
$400 pharmacy
$0 $0
Preventative Care no cost1 no cost1 no cost1 no cost1
Primary Care Visit Copay $752 $40 $30 $15
Specialty Care Visit Copay $1052 $80 $55 $30
Urgent Care Visit Copay $752 $40 $30 $15
Mental Health & Substance Abuse Outpatient Office Visits $752 $40 $30 $15
Lab Testing Copay $40 $35 $35 $15
X-Ray Copay Full cost until Maximum Out-of-Pocket is met $75 $55 $30
Imaging Copay Full cost until Maximum Out-of-Pocket is met $300 $275 or 20%3 $75 or 10%3
Outpatient services Full cost until Maximum Out-of-Pocket is met 20% $340 or 20%3 $125 or 10%3
Emergency Room Copay Full cost until Maximum Out-of-Pocket is met $350 $325 $150
Emergency Room Transportation Copay Full cost until Maximum Out-of-Pocket is met $250 $250 $150
High cost and inpatient services (e.g. Hospital stay) Full cost until Maximum Out-of-Pocket is met 20% $600 per day up to five days or 20%3 $250 per day up to five days or 10%3
Inpatient Hospital Physician services Full cost until Maximum Out-of-Pocket is met 20% $0 or 20%3 $0 or 10%3
Tier 1 - Most Generic Drugs Full cost until Maximum Out-of-Pocket is met. $500 Maximum Copay per prescription after pharmacy deductible is met $15 $15 $5
Tier 2 - Preferred Brand Drugs $55 $55 $15
Tier 3 - Non-Preferred Brand Drugs $80 $75 $25
Tier 4 - Specialty Drugs 20% up to $250 maximum per prescription 20% up to $250 maximum per prescription 10% up to $250 maximum per prescription
Maximum Out-Of-Pocket For One $7,550 $7,550 $7,200 $3,350
Maximum Out-Of-Pocket For Family $15,100 $15,100 $14,400 $6,700
1 in-network only
2 Copay is limited to the first three visits in total. That includes any combination of Primary Care, Specialist, Mental Health or Urgent Care visits. After three visits, future visits will be at full cost until the out-of-pocket maximum is met.
3 See the plan's Summary of Benefits to determine if $ or % is due.
Key benefits Bronze 60 Silver 70 Gold 80 Platinum 90

Depending on your annual adjusted gross income (line 37 of the 1040, Line 21 of the 1040A, or line 4 of the 1040EZ) you may be qualify for up to two levels of financial assistance. Click here to view the Income Guidelines. This chart will help you determine which levels of financial assistance you may qualify for.

Level 1: Assistance in lowering your monthly premium. This level applies to all annual incomes listed between 138% and 400% on the Income Guidelines chart.

Level 2: Assistance in lowering your monthly premium PLUS Enhanced benefits under the Silver Cost Sharing Reduction plans. Enhanced benefits plans have lowered Deductibles, Copays, and Maximum Out-of-Pocket Costs. This level only applies to annual income is listed between 138% and 250% on the Income Guidelines Chart.

There are 3 types of Silver Cost Sharing Reduction plans and the ONLY way to enroll in one of these plans is if your Adjusted Gross Income is listed under Gray Silver Cost Sharing Reductions (CSR) section of the Income Guidelines chart. Click below to view the benefits of the plan you may qualify for and see how it compares to Bronze, Gold & Platinum plans.

Benefits Comparison
Enhanced Silver 73 Plan Benefits Enhanced Silver 73 vs. Bronze, Gold & Platinum
Enhanced Silver 87 Plan Benefits Enhanced Silver 87 vs. Bronze, Gold & Platinum
Enhanced Silver 94 Plan Benefits Enhanced Silver 94 vs. Bronze, Gold & Platinum

Please note that all children under the Age of 19 will qualify for Medi-Cal if your Annual Gross Income is below the 266% on the Income Guidelines chart. This means even if the parents qualify for one of the Enhanced plans listed above, their children under the age of 19 will still only qualify for Medi-Cal. In these cases, parents will be on a separate plan from their children. This is what the Affordable Care Act intended to do for most families that qualify for financial assistance.

If you are you under the age of 30 and you do not qualify for financial assistance according to the Income Guidelines chart, then you may want to consider the Minimum Coverage Plan. This will be the lowest priced plan available for you to purchase. Please keep in mind that premium assistance cannot be used to purchase the Minimum Coverage Plan and it is only available for individuals under the age of 30 unless you qualify for a hardship exception.

Interested in a Health Savings Account (HSA) medical plan? Covered California does offer the Bronze 60 HSA medical plan. Please visit our FAQs to find out why an HSA medical plan might be right for you.

Compare the benefits of the low-cost bronze 60, bronze HSA and minimum coverage plans by viewing the low cost plan benefit comparison chart.

Differences between HMO, EPO & PPO plans:

Plan feature HMO EPO PPO
Designate a primary care physican? Yes No No
Need a referral to see a specialist? Yes No No
Out-of-network benefit? No No Yes
Level of flexibility Minimal Medium High
Access to convenience care and urgent care clinics? Maybe Maybe Yes

Need More Help?

Please call contact us via Phone, Text or Email:
Phone: (818) 350-2675
Text: (818) 350-2675
Email: [email protected]
We are Covered California certified, which means we'll help you get health insurance online, via email or over the phone. Our goal is to make acquiring Health Insurance easy for you! We will help you determine if you qualify for financial assistance and make sure you complete the Covered California application correctly. Our services are free, so just have a photo ID, proof of income, and your SSN and we'll take care of the rest!


Key Defintions

Individual Deductible This is amount you have to pay before the insurance covers any of the services listed in Blue on the Medical Plans Chart located at top of this page. This is the amount you are essentially self-insuring. You are only subject to the deductible if you need medical attention. Therefore, you only pay for the medical services you get rendered. This amount takes effect on January 1st of every year, so even if you satisfy the deductible in 2019, you will have to meet it again in 2020.

Family Deductible This is amount the entire family combined will have to pay before the insurance covers any of the services listed in Blue on the Medical Plans Chart located at top of this page. The deductible requirement will be waived for all members in the family once two or more people in the family have combined to satisfy this amount. For example, if Mom & Dad both reach their individual deductible amounts ($5,000 each = $10,000 combined) under the Bronze plan, then their children will not have to meet any deductible and will only have to pay the copay amounts listed in Blue on the Medical Plans Chart. Also, if only one person in the family meets their individual deductible, that person will still have satisfied their deductible and the insurance will cover any of the services listed in Blue on the Medical Plans Chart for this person only.

Copay This is the amount you will have to pay the IN-NETWORK Medical provider for that specific service(s) listed on the Medical Plans Chart located at top of this page.

Maximum Out-of-Pocket for One This is the most you will pay for all medical services in a calendar year when using IN-NETWORK Medical providers. This comes into play if you ever need a major medical procedure done. For Example, if you have a baby, you will most likely end up paying this amount to the hospital and doctors when you deliver the baby. This is most you will be responsible for in any calendar year. So even if your IN-Network medical providers charge $100K for a procedure, you will only pay a maximum of $6,350 under the Bronze plan because the insurance company will pay the rest. You will also be 100% covered from that point on. Which means any other medical services you have rendered by IN-NETWORK medical providers will be of no charge to you for the remainder of the calendar year. Having a cap/maximum on your Out-of-Pocket costs is the main advantage to purchasing Health Insurance. Without this cap, your potential Out-of-Pocket costs could be astronomical depending on the medical attention you require.

Maximum Out-of-Pocket for Family This is the most a family will pay for all medical services in a calendar year when using IN-NETWORK Medical providers. Every member in the family will be 100% covered once two or more people in the family have combined to satisfy this amount. For example, if Mom & Dad both reach their individual Maximum Out-of-Pocket amounts ($6,350 each = $12,700 combined) under the Bronze plan, then their children will have also meet their Out-of-Pocket Maximums. Which means all medical services the entire family may have rendered by IN-NETWORK medical providers will be of no charge for the remainder of the calendar year. Also, if only one person in the family meets their individual Out-of-Pocket maximum, that person will still have satisfied their Out-of-pocket maximum and the insurance will cover 100% of any IN-Network medical services for this person only for the remainder of the calendar year.

IN-NETWORK Medical Provider These are doctors and hospitals that have contracted with a specific Health Insurance company. You want to make sure to ALWAYS use IN-Network / Contracted medical providers whenever possible because the cost savings will be substantial. For example, HMO & EPO plans will not even provide coverage if you use an OUT-OF-NETWORK medical provider unless it is a life threatening emergency. PPO plans will offer up to 50% reimbursement of what they would have paid one of their IN-NETWORK medical providers for the OUT-OF-NETWORK services you got rendered, so this reimbursement amount rarely ends up being 50% of what you actually spent. In addition, you will have to manually submit these OUT-OF-NETWORK claims to the insurance company for reimbursement and the processing time is unpredictable. Please visit our Find an IN-NETWORK Provider page to find out which Insurance companies your Doctor is IN- NETWORK / Contracted with.

Interested in Dental & Vision Plans?

We can enroll you in Dental & Vision plans over the phone, via email or online.
Phone: (818) 350-2675
Email: [email protected]
Online: Click here to learn more about Dental Coverage - Click here to learn more about Vision Coverage