Best Health Insurance Hawaii 2023

If you live in Hawaii and are not covered by employer health insurance, you can buy health insurance through federal exchange programs or private insurers. Hawaii health insurance marketplace is divided into four metal tiers — bronze, silver, gold, and Platinum. Bronze plans have the lowest premiums, while Platinum has the highest premiums.

You must find the best health insurance in Hawaii fast because enrollment plans open from 1st November to 15th December annually. Fortunately, we have done the legwork for you in this article,  which highlights the cheapest insurance plans, list of providers and comparison of plans, comparison of costs, and includes a Hawaii health insurance guide to help you find the best insurance plan.

Let’s get started:

List of Providers and Comparison of Plans

Although there are a variety of Health insurance plans in Hawaii, the four most popular ones are:

• Aloha Care
• HMSA
• Kaiser Permanente
• Ohana Health Plan

Here is a detailed description of the four Hawaii health insurance plans. Take a look to see which one may be the best health insurance in Hawaii for you:

AlohaCare

AlohaCare provides a non-profit health plan, serving Medicare and Medicaid dual-eligible populations. Through quality and well-established partnerships with community-governed health centers and healthcare providers, AlohaCare offers comprehensive and managed care to health plan members. It provides primary, prevention, and specialty care coverage with a mission to make Hawaii healthy. 

They offer a QUEST Integration plan that provides benefits, including: 

• doctor visits,
• hospital services,
• preventive care services,
• lab tests,
• service coordination,
• long-term service and support,
• family planning services, and 
• prescription drugs.

HMSA

HMSA is the largest healthcare provider in Hawaii, with the most comprehensive network of pharmacies and doctors in the state. Plus, HMSA insurance members have access to urgent care locations across the islands. HMSA has been offering quality health plans for over 80 years.

Their health insurance plans in Hawaii include ACA (Affordable Care Act Plans) for individuals and families. It is an affordable way to get quality and convenient care from the hospital and doctors of your choice.

Other benefits include an annual wellness exam from your primary care provider; generic drugs are accessible for a copayment, access to a doctor on your phone round the clock for diagnosis and prescription, and discounts on massage therapy and yoga classes.

Another plan that they offer is the HMSA Medicare Advantage. It starts at $0 on Oahu Island. It includes benefits like telehealth, fitness, and vision benefits. Moreover, prescription drugs are also mailed to the members.

Kaiser Permanente 

Kaiser Permanente has the most integrated medical care program among all Hawaii health insurance companies. Their program features more than 450 primary and specialty physicians that provide care at nearly 18 clinics statewide.

The company offers four types of plans:

1. Essential plan provides co-pay options for covered outpatient services, generic prescription drugs, and office visits. 
2. With the Classic Plan, the insured member pays co-pay for a doctor’s office visit. It includes emergency room services, generic drugs, office visits, and after-hour visits.  
3. The Advantage plan provides primary doctor care visits, emergency room services, generic prescription drugs for a co-pay, and the first two specialist visits. 
4. All health insurance plans in Hawaii with Kaiser Permanente add a health savings plan option. It serves as a savings account that helps you save money towards the deductible and other health-related expenses. 

Ohana Health Plan

Ohana offers two types of Medicare Advantage Plans:

1. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plans to give you access to an extensive network of hospitals and doctors along with other valuable extras like vision and dental care, hearing, and fitness benefits.
2. Ohana Dual Special Needs Plan (D-SNP). This plan is designed to offer support members that qualify for Medicaid coverage. It provides all the benefits of a Medicare plan and extra benefits to the qualifying members at no additional cost. 

Cheapest Health Insurance Plan by County in Hawaii

When looking for the cheapest health insurance in Hawaii, it is essential to understand that health insurance providers update premiums, out-of-pocket maximums, and deductibles every year. They are then submitted to the federal regulatory body for approval for the following plan year.

 

County	Cheapest plan	Single adult, age 40	Couple, age 40	Couple age 40 plus a child
Honolulu	KP HI Silver 4000/45	$467	$934	$1,214
Kalawao	KP HI Silver 4000/45	$467	$934	$1,214
Kauai	KP HI Silver 4000/45	$467	$934	$1,214

 

If you look at the table above, you can easily see that the county’s cheapest health insurance plan is the KP HI Silver 4000/45. However, silver may be cheaper across the state but the best plan for you in the metal tiers predominantly depends on your medical circumstances, age, and budget.

Average Cost of Health Insurance by Family Size in Hawaii

One factor that may help you determine the best health insurance in Hawaii is the cost. On average, a Hawaiian pays roughly $300 for a monthly premium. However, the national monthly average spent is $470, meaning once you buy a health insurance plan in Hawaii, you can be saving nearly $2,000 annually.

If you look at the average cost of the health insurance plans in Hawaii in terms of the family size, the average monthly cost of health insurance varies. However, please note that the cost of child insurance remains flat until they turn 15 years old.

The average cost of a silver insurance health policy for a three-member family, where two adults are 40+ and a child is 14 years old, is roughly $1,159 in Hawaii. Also, the cost of the policy increases by nearly $267 with each additional child. Here’s a clear breakdown of the monthly cost of health insurance in Hawaii for the silver tier plan and family size:

 

Family size	Average monthly cost of health insurance
Individual plus child	$713
Couple, age of adults 40	$892
Family of three (one child)	$1,159
Family of four (two children)	$1,426
Family of five (three children)	$1,96

 

As the pricing may vary from individual to individual and the family’s size, you should request health insurance quotes in Hawaii from different companies as listed above. This will help you make an informed decision and select the most affordable plan according to your requirements and family size.

Hawaii Health Insurance Guide and Resources

You can get Hawaii health insurance in three ways:

Employer-Provided 

All employers in Hawaii with one or more employees, full-time or part-time, are mandated to provide them with Prepaid Health Care Act coverage unless they fall in the category of ineligible employees.

Private Health Insurance for Individual or Family Plans

You can opt for these when the employer does not cover you and your family. You can buy these during the annual open enrollment period. 

Government-assisted

These are Hawaii Medicare and Hawaii Medicaid programs.

Hawaii Medicare

To qualify for Medicare in Hawaii, you must be a local/US citizen or a permanent resident. And one of the following must apply to you:

• Above 65 
• Under 65 but disabled 
• Suffering from end-stage renal disease
• Have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Approximately 269,000 Hawaiians were enrolled in Medicare in 2018. Medicare coverage has two parts:

Part A is hospital insurance that provides hospitalization coverage, hospice care, and other home health services. 

Part B is medical insurance covering doctor visits, medical equipment, lab work, and diagnostic testing.

Hawaii Medicaid

It provides coverage for children, caretaker relatives, pregnant women, and adults who are disabled or elderly. The mandatory benefits are inpatient and outpatient hospital services, X-ray services, home health services, and physician services, while other optional benefits include prescription drugs, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. 

Tips to Save on Health Insurance in Hawaii

Health insurance companies in Hawaii across the board consider a variety of factors to determine premium costs. The factors that contribute to the premium cost are:

• Body mass index
• Tobacco use
• Age
• Location
• Pre-existing conditions
• Insurance and medical history

Therefore, you can lower the premium cost by working on factors you can control, such as exercising regularly, quit smoking, and managing your weight/BMI.

Conclusion 

In a nutshell, This guide can help you find the best health insurance in Hawaii that fits your needs. You can get health insurance quotes based on your medical history, age, family size, and other factors. Once you have premiums and estimates in hand, you can evaluate your options in a better way and make an informed choice.