No, most Americans aren’t required to have health insurance. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandated health insurance for most Americans, but Congress removed the tax penalty in 2019, effectively eliminating the health insurance mandate. A handful of states have their own individual mandate, including California and New York.
Whether to stay on your parents’ health insurance or go on a company’s group health insurance plan depends on the costs, provider network and benefits. If the employer-sponsored plan is cheap (or free), you may want to go with that health coverage. Just be sure to review the plan’s out-of-pocket costs like deductibles, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximums. You may find a low- or no-premium health insurance plan has exorbitant out-of-pocket costs when you need care.
A high-deductible health plan (HDHP) like a bronze or silver plan in the ACA marketplace at HealthCare.gov is one way to reduce your health insurance premiums. But having an HDHP plan means you pay more when you need care. Compare how much you would save by having a lower health insurance premium and whether potential higher out-of-pocket costs are worth it.
No, younger people generally pay less for health insurance on the ACA marketplace. For instance, our analysis found that a 21-year-old pays $397 monthly on average and a 27-year-old pays $419. That’s much lower than the average monthly cost for individual coverage for a 40-year-old ($509) or 50-year-old ($712). If you enroll in an employer’s group health insurance plan, those plans don’t base costs based on age.
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Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before covering insurance, Les was a news editor and reporter for Patch and Community Newspaper Company and also covered health care, mortgages, credit cards and personal loans for multiple websites.
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