The Average Cost of Medical Insurance a Month If You Are Not Covered by Employer

While most Americans under age 65 obtain major medical insurance through a group plan sponsored by their employers, up to 14 million Americans under 65 buy their own health insurance through the individual marketplace, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Policies purchased in the individual market typically receive no employer premium subsidy, though pricing can be advantageous for young people in good health, since group plans must insure the sick as well as the healthy.

Annual Premiums

• Premiums paid into health insurance plans sold in the individual market vary with age and with a wide variety of other medical underwriting criteria, as well as by location. Some states mandate more coverage than others, which tends to push premiums in those states higher. Nationwide, however, individuals paid an average of $3,606 for health insurance in the individual market. Those opting for family coverage paid an average of $7,102, as of June 2010.

Recent Trends

• Health insurance plans purchased in the individual market are not immune to the overall trend of rising health care costs. Overall, insurance companies that sell to the individual markets increased premiums by 20 percent between 2009 and 2010, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Policy Features

• People who purchase policies in the individual market behave differently from those who get their insurance from employer-subsidized group plans, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's data. Specifically, owners of individual policies maintain much higher deductibles than those covered by employer plans. Specifically, employer-sponsored plans averaged an annual deductible of $634, compared with the $2,498 average deductible that individual plans carried as of 2010. Cost comparisons between group and individual plans should take this difference into account.

Legislative Developments

• The Affordable Care Act of 2010 may have a significant impact on the individual health insurance market. This package of health care reforms will guarantee access to the medical insurance system for all adults with pre-existing conditions by 2014. As part of the system, all adults will be required to purchase coverage, or be subject to fines.