The California health benefits exchange offers four different tiers of health insurance to individuals, families and small businesses. Each tier has a different cost, out of pocket expense, deductible and copayment. The items that are covered may be slightly different, but they all cover essential health benefits, such as emergency rooms, hospitalization, maternity, mental health, prescription drugs, and preventative wellness services. While the amount of coverage may differ between plans, all health insurance in California must cover these minimum items.
Our main goal is to help you find the best insurance plan that fits your family’s medical needs and budget. There are certain programs that can help you by offsetting the cost of your premiums, but these are only available to families (or individuals) who make under a specific amount of money every year. The easiest way to find out if you would qualify for a tax credit is to use our online calculator.
Before you can use the calculator or request a quote from the California health benefits exchange, there are a few pieces of information that you must have. The first is the number of people who live in your household. This is not the people in your house, but the number of people that you are able to claim on your taxes because of financial responsibility or joint assets. You must also know the income of everyone claimed under your household. The final few pieces are simple: you must have your age, your spouse’s age, and how many children live in the home that are under 21. You will also have to list how many are between 21 and 25, because they may be under your coverage under specific conditions, such as college students or other dependent qualifications.