Aug. 1, 2013 -- Maryland has published the rates for health insurance available through its Marketplace, the Maryland Health Connection, starting Oct. 1.
The prices vary depending upon your age, geographic location, whether you're a smoker, and the level of plan you choose. Of the four levels -- bronze, silver, gold, and platinum -- bronze-level plans have the lowest premiums but the highest out-of-pocket costs.
For a 25-year-old nonsmoker who lives in Baltimore, the monthly premium ranges between $124 and $237 a month for a bronze plan.
A 50-year-old nonsmoker in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Montgomery County will pay $263 to $470 a month for a silver plan. Silver plans have higher premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs than bronze plans.
The rates are available at the Maryland Insurance Administration web site.
The companies selling insurance in the Maryland Marketplace, created under the Affordable Care Act, include Aetna, CareFirst BlueChoice, CareFirst of Maryland, Coventry Health Care, Evergreen Health Cooperative Inc., Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic, and UnitedHealthcare.
Under the Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, each state must have a health insurance Marketplace in place by Oct. 1, 2013, for coverage starting Jan. 1, 2014. Most Americans will be required to have health insurance starting Jan. 1. Maryland is one of 17 states, along with Washington, D.C., operating its own Marketplace.
source : Maryland Releases Health Insurance Rates
