Healthcare Categories

There are four health plan categories (also known as “metal levels”) in the Health Insurance Marketplace^®:

Bronze health plan

Bronze plans usually have the lowest monthly premiums but the highest costs when you get care. They can be a good choice if you usually use few medical services and mostly want protection from very high costs if you get seriously sick or injured.

Note: Bronze plan deductibles can be very high. This means you could have to pay thousands of dollars of health care costs yourself before your plan starts to pay its share.

All health plans in all categories provide free preventive services, and some plans offer other services at low or no cost before you meet your deductible.

Silver health plan

Silver plans fall about in the middle: You pay moderate monthly premiums and moderate costs when you need care. Important: If you qualify for “cost sharing reductions” (or “extra savings”) you can save a lot of money on deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance when you get care — but only if you pick a Silver plan.

Silver plans are the most common choice of Marketplace shoppers.

Gold health plan

Gold plans usually have higher monthly premiums but lower costs when you get care. Gold may be a good choice if you use a lot of medical services or would rather pay more up front and know that you’ll pay less when you get care.

Platinum health plan

Platinum plans usually have the highest monthly premiums of any plan category but pay the most when you get medical care. They may work well if you expect to use a great deal of health care and would rather pay a higher premium and know nearly all other costs are covered.

Estimated averages for a typical population. Your costs will vary.