15 Fascinating Things You Need to Know About Your Insurance

How much is reasonable for health insurance premiums

Everyone wants affordable health insurance, but our idea of affordable seems a bit skewed. Nearly 40 percent of people think premiums costing more than $100 a month are unfair, according to a 2018 survey of 1,705 people who purchased health insurance through the platform eHealth. Nearly three-quarters said anything above $200 was unfair. Those numbers were based on coverage for a single individual.

However, the average unsubsidized premium for those buying on eHealth was $440 a month. Meanwhile, consumer spending site ValuePenguin, pegs the cost of insuring a 21-year-old as being anywhere from the $167 a month for catastrophic coverage to $363 a month for a platinum plan that covers 90 percent of medical costs.

It’s worth noting the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) requires insurers to spend 80 to 85 percent of premiums on health care. So while your premiums may be expensive, at least there are limits to how much they can line the pockets of insurance executives.