Health Insurance

Health insurance is coverage that helps pay for medical care in exchange for regular premiums. Americans get it through employers, through public programs, through the federal and state health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act, and through military coverage such as TRICARE. Federal agencies, state insurance regulators, and employers each have a part in what plans offer and what they cost.

People usually bring questions about how to sign up, when enrollment periods open and what happens outside them, and how to choose among plan levels. They also ask how income affects help with premiums, what happens to coverage after a job loss, how to change or cancel a plan, and how rules limit what insurers can keep as profit.