The cost for health insurance for a month for a single person can vary, depending on where you live and the coverage you want.
According to The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) the average cost for health insurance for a single person in 2021 is $452 a month, or $5,424 a year.
For employer-provided health insurance, The Kaiser Family Foundation found the average premiums were $7,470 for single coverage in 2020. Employees enrolled in Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) paid higher premiums in 2020, averaging $7,880 annually for single coverage. The amount a person pays in employer-provided health insurance depends on how much of the premium their employer covers.
Different factors that can affect health insurance costs include:
- The premium
- This is the amount paid for coverage either monthly or annually
- Deductible
- This is the amount a person pays on a health insurance claim before the policy pays its part
- The higher the deductible, the lower a premium will be
- Coinsurance
- This is the amount a person needs to pay for a medical treatment or service after the deductible limit has been reached
- This is often a percentage rather than a fixed fee
- Copayment (“co-pay”)
- This is a fixed amount rather than a percentage a person pays for health care services after the deductible is met
- Average copayments are about $10 to $20 per visit
- Out-of-pocket maximum
- This amount is the most a policyholder pays in a given year for health services under their policy
- Once the out-of-pocket limit is reached, the health insurance provider pays for all covered services for the rest of the year
- Deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments paid by an individual all go toward meeting the out-of-pocket maximum
- All Affordable Care Act marketplace plans for 2021 have an out-of-pocket maximum of $8,550 for individuals and $17,100 for families
- Other factors that can affect what a person pays for health insurance include:
- Age
- Annual income
- The amount of coverage desired
- The number of family members covered under the policy