In 2021, Americans Will Spend An Average of $5,952/Year for Health Insurance.

Friday, November 20th, 2020

With Open Enrollment underway, a new ValuePenguin.com analysis has found that in 2021, Americans will spend an average of $496 per month, or $5,952 per year on health insurance, if they purchase a Health Insurance Marketplace plan. There was a slight 1.59% decrease in premiums from the 2020 plan year, but analysts found significant variations across states, and health insurance plan type:

  • West Virginia, New York, Wyoming, Vermont and Louisiana residents pay the highest health insurance premiums in the country — premiums here are 43.14%, 41%, 34.73%, 30.50% and 26.45% above the national average.
  • New Hampshire, Maryland, New Mexico, Minnesota and Washingtonresidents pay the lowest health insurance premiums in the country— premiums here are 32.55%, 30.19%, 29.68%, 27.26% and 20.66% below the national average.
  • Indiana, New Jersey and Delaware had the largest increase in health insurance costs year over year — 10%, 9% and 8% respectively ($42, $43 and $37).
  • Iowa, Maryland and Maine had the largest decrease in health insurance costs year over year — 20%, 17%, and 15% respectively ($110, $69 and $78).
  • Notably, New Jersey saw rates increase 9% from 2020, after the introduction of their new state run health insurance marketplace. Pennsylvania, which also introduced a state run health insurance marketplace, saw health insurance costs decrease 8% from 2020.
  • The most restrictive health insurance policies - namely HMO (health maintenance organization) and POS (point of service) saw the biggest drop in premiums, compared to other types of plans, falling close to 10.67% and 9.04% compared to 2020. By metal tier, Bronze tier health plans saw the sharpest decrease in premiums, falling 6.86% compared to the 2020 plan year.

According to ValuePenguin.com Health Insurance expert Sterling Price, "Despite decreases in average premiums nationally, most Americans will see their premiums increase slightly for the 2021 plan year, due to COVID-19." He adds, "Insurers are anticipating a surge in medical claims from the many Americans who delayed surgeries or medical procedures in 2020 due to the pandemic, and the COVID-19 Vaccination. These factors have led to some insurers adding a slight bump to premiums for the 2021 plan year."

ValuePenguin.com analysts looked at the thousands of Health Insurance plans available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Using the rates and premiums for each plan, averages were calculated for a variety of variables such as metal tier, family size, county and state. To view the full report, visit: https://www.valuepenguin.com/average-cost-of-health-insurance

How Much Will Health Insurance Cost In Your State in 2021?

Rank

State

Monthly
cost

Annual
cost

% Change from
National
average

2021
Average
(Monthly)

2020 Average
(Monthly)

% change
year over
year

1

West Virginia

$712

$8,540

43.14%

$712

$666

6.82%

2

New York

$701

$8,413

41.00%

$701

$698

0.43%

3

Wyoming

$670

$8,039

34.73%

$670

$766

-12.54%

4

Vermont

$649

$7,786

30.50%

$649

$631

2.86%

5

Louisiana

$629

$7,545

26.45%

$629

$596

5.42%

6

Nebraska

$615

$7,379

23.68%

$615

$648

-5.17%

7

Massachusetts

$599

$7,184

20.41%

$599

$568

5.45%

8

California

$588

$7,056

18.27%

$588

$576

2.03%

9

Alaska

$572

$6,869

15.13%

$572

$614

-6.70%

10

Nevada

$566

$6,792

13.84%

$566

$556

1.85%

11

South Dakota

$561

$6,730

12.79%

$561

$556

0.91%

12

Missouri

$548

$6,572

10.15%

$548

$578

-5.21%

13

New Jersey

$543

$6,521

9.29%

$543

$501

8.54%

14

Oklahoma

$539

$6,464

8.34%

$539

$588

-8.32%

15

Florida

$528

$6,336

6.19%

$528

$554

-4.75%

16

North Carolina

$521

$6,247

4.70%

$521

$490

6.19%

17

Illinois

$517

$6,203

3.97%

$517

$537

-3.70%

18

Alabama

$514

$6,163

3.29%

$514

$488

5.21%

19

Delaware

$513

$6,154

3.14%

$513

$475

7.88%

20

Kansas

$511

$6,138

2.87%

$511

$517

-1.06%

21

Tennessee

$495

$5,937

-0.50%

$495

$491

0.73%

22

Texas

$492

$5,900

-1.12%

$492

$508

-3.18%

23

Arizona

$490

$5,877

-1.50%

$490

$487

0.66%

24

Georgia

$489

$5,874

-1.56%

$489

$490

-0.16%

25

Mississippi

$485

$5,821

-2.43%

$485

$500

-2.98%

26

Utah

$477

$5,730

-3.97%

$477

$493

-3.22%

27

Idaho

$477

$5,723

-4.08%

$477

$485

-1.76%

28

Kentucky

$470

$5,641

-5.46%

$470

$455

3.30%

29

Oregon

$467

$5,603

-6.09%

$467

$441

5.81%

30

South Carolina

$462

$5,550

-6.98%

$462

$501

-7.67%

31

Indiana

$462

$5,543

-7.10%

$462

$420

9.92%

32

Wisconsin

$461

$5,527

-7.37%

$461

$486

-5.16%

33

Iowa

$451

$5,411

-9.32%

$451

$561

-19.56%

34

Montana

$449

$5,393

-9.62%

$449

$448

0.32%

35

Pennsylvania

$449

$5,218

-9.69%

$449

$471

5.00%

36

Hawaii

$446

$5,353

-10.27%

$446

$456

-2.09%

37

Virginia

$443

$5,318

-10.87%

$443

$466

-4.93%

38

Ohio

$435

$5,223

-12.46%

$435

$456

-4.56%

39

Maine

$431

$5,172

-13.32%

$431

$509

-15.32%

40

Arkansas

$426

$5,112

-14.33%

$426

$405

5.18%

41

Rhode Island

$417

$4,999

-16.22%

$417

$387

7.64%

42

North Dakota

$410

$4,923

-17.49%

$410

$387

6.13%

43

Michigan

$402

$4,828

-19.08%

$402

$417

-3.49%

44

Washington

$394

$4,734

-20.66%

$394

$409

-3.50%

45

Minnesota

$362

$4,340

-27.26%

$362

$362

-0.20%

46

New Mexico

$350

$4,196

-29.68%

$350

$364

-3.89%

47

Maryland

$344

$4,122

-30.91%

$344

$413

-16.75%

48

New Hampshire

$335

$4,024

-32.55%

$335

$383

-12.38%