How To Find the Best Health Insurance in Arkansas

Even though Arkansas health insurance tends to be a bit cheaper than average and isn’t required by law in practice, it’s still generally a good idea to compare quotes from multiple health insurance companies to make sure you can get the right amount of insurance coverage for the lowest price possible.

Keep reading for more information about affordable health insurance in Arkansas, such as average prices and when you can sign up for a new plan.

On This Page

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  Is Health Insurance Required in Arkansas?

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  Arkansas Health Insurance Rankings

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  How Much Does Health Insurance Cost in Arkansas?

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  What Is the Average Cost of Health Insurance in Arkansas by City?

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  Which Health Insurance Companies Are the Most Affordable in Arkansas?

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  When Is Open Enrollment for Health Insurance in Arkansas?

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  What Types of Health Insurance Are Available in Arkansas?

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  How To Get Health Insurance in Arkansas

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  FAQs

Is Health Insurance Required in Arkansas?

You are officially required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to carry health insurance that covers minimum essential health benefits if you live in Arkansas, but there is no state-level penalty for choosing to remain uninsured. The federal tax penalty was eliminated after the 2018 tax year, although the nominal requirement for everyone to have health insurance still remains on the books.^[1]

Arkansas Health Insurance Rankings

Arkansas has one of the worst health care systems in the country, ranking 47th out of 51 in an analysis of every state and Washington, D.C., by the Commonwealth Fund. While Arkansas ranks in the top half of the nation when it comes to preventing unnecessary hospital expenses, the state was rated poorly on every other metric included in the study. See the below table for a breakdown of Arkansas’ national rank in each of the study’s dimensions.^[2]

How Much Does Health Insurance Cost in Arkansas?

Health insurance costs a bit less than average in Arkansas, with residents of the Natural State paying an average of $458 per month for benchmark health plans from the Health Insurance Marketplace, while Americans as a whole pay an average of $497 per month for these plans. Arkansans also pay a monthly average of $389 for the state’s cheapest bronze plan, $452 for its cheapest silver plan and $528 for its cheapest gold plan.^[3]

Cheapest Health Insurance Options in Arkansas

If you want the cheapest health plan possible and are fine with minimal coverage, you should pick a plan in the bronze tier, which will generally come with low monthly premiums and high out-of-pocket costs.^[4] For further savings, you could opt for a health maintenance organization (HMO), which has lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs than a preferred provider organization (PPO) but excludes coverage for out-of-network care and treatment from specialists your doctor hasn’t referred you to.^[5]

What Is the Average Cost of Health Insurance in Arkansas by City?

If you are 30 years old and have an income of $40,000 per year, then you can expect to pay a median premium of about $441.06 per month for a Marketplace health insurance plan before taking premium tax credit subsidies into account, regardless of what city you live in.^[6]

Which Health Insurance Companies Are the Most Affordable in Arkansas?

Ambetter offers the lowest starting rates for silver-tier health insurance coverage for 40-year-olds who live in Arkansas. In the following table, you’ll see a brief list of the health insurers in Arkansas that sell this type of coverage for under $600 per month.^[7]

When Is Open Enrollment for Health Insurance in Arkansas?

In Arkansas, open enrollment through the federal Marketplace at HealthCare.gov takes place from November 1 to January 15 each year, with coverage beginning on January 1 for people who enroll by December 15. Once open enrollment has passed, you may still be able to join a Marketplace plan, but only if you qualify for a special enrollment period by experiencing a major life event, like getting married or having a baby.^[8]

What Types of Health Insurance Are Available in Arkansas?

Arkansans may have access to a wide range of different types of health insurance, including the following:

• Marketplace health insurance
• Private coverage purchased directly from a health insurance company, such as short-term health insurance
• Employer-sponsored group health insurance
• Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) continuation coverage
• Medicare
• Medicaid (also known as Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me, or ARHOME)
• Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP (also known as ARKids First in Arkansas)
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health benefits
• Student health plans

How To Get Health Insurance in Arkansas

You need to compare health insurance quotes from at least three to five unique insurance carriers to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible on the health plan you need. Unfortunately, it can be a long and tedious process to personally request and analyze multiple quotes yourself.

To simplify the comparison shopping process, consider using an online insurance platform like SmartFinancial. Once you give us some information about the kind of coverage you need, we’ll do the heavy lifting and sort through health insurance quotes for you. You can start comparing health insurance plan rates for free by clicking here.