Individual market is a marketplace regulated by the federal and state governments on which individuals and families can purchase health insurance coverage.
It's comprised of individuals and families who do not have health insurance through an employer and do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.
The Utah individual market is one of the fastest-growing in the nation.
Through June of this year, there were 435K enrollees on the individual market in Utah, which is up from under 300K at the end of 2022.
In a state with a population around 3.5M, that means more than 10 percent of the population is covered by an individual market plan.
Right now is open enrollment, which runs every year from November 1 to January 15, though if you want coverage to begin on the first of the year, you need to enroll by December 15.
Shane Mulhern, VP ACA Markets for Regence BlueCross BlueShield, joined us with some information about the marketplace and their role in it.
He explained that Regence is a health insurer offering coverage in the Utah individual market.
Shane says, "Our Utah headquarters are located here in Salt Lake City and we are proud to serve the communities and geographies we live in."
Since the individual market has been in the news a lot lately, we asked Shane to put it all in context for us.
Shane says since the passing of the Affordable Care Act, there have been premium subsidies given to individuals to make health insurance coverage more affordable, these are based on an individual or families income level.
In 2021, as part of measures taken during Covid, enhanced subsidies went into place – these provided further premium subsidies and made coverage on the individual market more affordable.
These enhanced subsidies are set to expire at the end of this year, meaning as individuals and families make coverage decisions for next year, the premium subsidy level may be lower.
Shane says if you do get your healthcare on the market, know that it's an ever-evolving situation in D.C., so keep checking healthcare.gov and talk to healthcare brokers about the best options for you.
You can learn more at Regence.com.
