One of my sons currently is insured through COBRA through his former employer, and it runs out soon.

Does Aetna, Cigna, or United write individual health plans directly or through an agent?

Or does he have to go through the New York Marketplace, or whatever they call it? He wants a good or premium policy, ie not looking for Obamacare.

Thanks for any insight.

I'm not in NY, but I got a bridge policy with Ambetter to span the end of COBRA to the beginning of Medicare. Wasn't the greatest, but it was reasonable and covered me through any possible catastrophes. Not sure that helps.

Cost on the exchange depends on his income. It can be quite inexpensive. Here in Utah, the plans are from the same insurers as on the open market (non-Obamacare marketplace). There are a lot of nuanced differences, so if he shops on the marketplace he should consider contacting an official agent. I forget what they are called, something like an enrolled agent or approved agent? They cost the customer nothing, and they are experts in all the different plans.

We get our coverage through Christian Healthcare Ministries. The price is quite good, about $575 per month for the two of us. There are exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and a $1000 deductible for each event. There are several of these kinds of companies out there. It is not legally insurance, so they do not have to meet the Obamacare mandates. In fact, they exclude some things like unwed pregnancy. For some people this is a really good coverage for a very good price, as long as there aren't serious pre-existing conditions. (iirc there is a 3 yr lookback for pre-existing, and then a 2 yr exclusion if there was anything in that lookback period).

Open market plans can also have limitations on pre-existing conditions. On the Obamacare marketplace they cannot have those limitations iirc. Be sure your son looks into all the differences to be sure he gets the right coverage for his situation.

When my COBRA coverage ended, I looked into similar options, and it can be a bit tricky. Aetna, Cigna, and United sometimes offer direct plans, but it varies by state, and in New York, they tend to funnel most individual policies through the state marketplace. Even if your son is looking for a premium plan, he might still need to go through that marketplace—New York’s ""Essential Plan"" is one place to start, though it’s a bit different from standard “Obamacare” plans.

I ended up going with a group insurance option for my small business, which provided more flexibility in coverage. I worked with https://www.taylorbenefitsinsurance.com/ for this, and they were really helpful in finding plans that suited us well. Group plans can sometimes be an unexpected but viable route, depending on your situation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mac_220,

Generally it's going to be through the Marketplace.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the so-called "Obamacare Marketplace".

The Healthcare.gov Marketplace is just a one stop shop to browse and pick from all the health insurance policies offered in your area by providers like the companies you mentioned, rather than having to contact each company individually... It doesn't mean you're signing up for welfare/Medicaid/"Obamacare". (If you do qualify for Medicaid based on your income, you'll get directed by the Marketplace to your state Human Services website to apply for it there.)

Within the Marketplace, the various companies will offer different tiers of policies, from Bronze at the low/cheap end, to midtier Silver, to upper tier Gold or even Platinum. Since you state he's looking for a "premium" policy, he'll likely want Gold or Platinum. There will generally be about 4-6 companies to choose from, each offering 1-3 different policies within each tier, and the website allows you to view benefits and costs in a standardized format and compare different policies between all the various companies and tiers side by side.

In Arkansas, Bronze plans tend to run ~$400/month, Silver ~$500, and Gold ~$600, for a single person with no aggravating factors like being a smoker, elderly, etc. (There aren't any Platinum policies offered in AR.)

But I suspect New York monthly premiums will be quite a bit higher, though likely still less than he's been paying through Cobra.

I have a Silver plan from Blue Cross/Blue Shield through the Marketplace, since it's better and cheaper insurance than what's offered through my current employer. And it's almost as good as the health coverage I had in my prior LE career, just with a higher out of pocket monthly premium since my agency had been covering most of that.