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Affordable Health Insurance in Missouri: What Most People Don't Know
Five facts most Missourians learn the expensive way.
1. "Affordable" on the marketplace means subsidized
HealthCare.gov prices are designed to be offset by the premium tax credit. Without it, you're paying the full cost of a guaranteed-issue pool.
2. There's a second market
Private shared-network plans on Cigna, Aetna and PHCS PPO price on health instead of income. For healthy people above the subsidy line they're often half the price, with a PPO.
3. Your doctor probably takes the PPO, not the HMO
National PPO networks are what most employer plans use. Many doctors in Kansas City and St. Louis are in the Cigna, Aetna and PHCS PPO network and not in the narrow marketplace HMOs.
4. You can enroll in a private plan any month
No waiting for November. Apply by the 20th, coverage on the 1st.
5. The deduction applies either way
Missouri has a progressive state income tax, so the self-employed health premium deduction helps at both the federal and state level.
And one Missouri-specific thing
Missouri's two big metros sit on opposite sides of the state and each has its own hospital systems, so a statewide PPO network matters to people who travel between them.
Check your options to see what affordable actually looks like for your situation.