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Final Verdict
The last thing you want to do when choosing the best health insurance for your mental health is stress over it. Start by considering the providers on this list. See which are available in your area. If you qualify for the advance premium tax credit, pricing may be less of an issue for you, but Aetna’s plans are most likely to be $0 after the tax credit is applied. If you’re not eligible for the tax credit, Oscar offers the most plan choices at a lower price point, but may not be the cheapest overall. If customer service and satisfaction are most important to you, consider a plan from Kaiser or BCBS.
FAQs
Is Mental Health Covered by Insurance?
Certain types of mental health care are covered by insurance. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), all health plans purchased through the Marketplace must include coverage for mental health as an essential health benefit. Some of the services covered include counseling, inpatient services, and substance abuse treatment. To find the best insurance companies for mental health, compare benefits and quotes from providers in your area.
How Much Is Health Insurance?
The cost of health insurance depends on a variety of factors, including your age, location, tobacco use, plan category, and whether you qualify for the advanced premium tax credit, which is based on your household income. The cheapest health insurance plans are bronze plans, which tend to run from just below $300 to well over $400 per month for a 35-year-old, depending on your location, the carrier, the deductible, and benefits. Silver plans tend to run about $100 more per month, based on our review of nationwide carriers.
What Are Essential Health Benefits?
There are 10 essential health benefits that every health insurance plan sold on the Marketplace must cover. Each plan must provide coverage for these services, regardless of the plan category. The 10 essential health benefits are:
- Preventative care and wellness services, including disease management
- Pediatric care (includes dental and vision care)
- Emergency services
- Hospitalization
- Outpatient care
- Maternal care, including pregnancy, newborn care, and postpartum care
- Mental health and substance use disorder treatment
- Rehabilitative services and other habilitative services, like occupational therapy
- Prescription medications
- Lab testing
How We Chose the Best Insurance Companies for Mental Health
To choose the best insurance companies for mental health, we looked at the largest health insurance companies nationwide. We narrowed down the list by selecting providers that offer depression management programs through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Each of these companies was evaluated using a series of criteria, including state availability, average NCQA plan ratings, healthcare.gov plan ratings, J.D. Power customer satisfaction scores, plan types and metal tiers, the number of health management programs available, and the cost of plans. To gauge plan costs, we considered premiums, copays, and deductibles for plans in all four metal tiers across age groups in two ZIP codes, representing the states with the highest enrollment in Marketplace plans.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048) 24 hours a day/7 days a week to get information on all of your options. MULTIPLAN_HCIDOTDASH01_2023