There're still three weeks left to enroll in Obamacare individual insurance plans (in most states), if that's something you need to do. Enrollments end on Dec. 15, though President-elect Joe Biden is probably going to reopen it as soon as he’s sworn in in January to make sure that everyone who’s been affected by the pandemic has that as an alternative. There's every indication with Donald Trump out and a Supreme Court that’s skeptical at best about striking the law down that it will be around for the next plan year.
Outside of all the politics that have been swirling around the Affordable Care Act for the last four years, it has grown and remained remarkably stable. For the third year in a row, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) finds, several new insurers are either entering the market to offer plans on the exchange, or are expanding into new regions for 2021. KFF identified 30 new insurers across 20 states, with an additional 61 insurers expanding into new parts of the states they’re already offering plans in. There's an average across all states of five insurers to choose from, all with a variety of plans.
More than 200 counties across the country will have five or more insurers, and only 10% of counties have just one insurer offering. In the 2018 plan year when enrollment was happening during the 2017 Senate push to repeal the law, fully 52% of counties only had one offering. What a difference a Democratic House made there.
At the same time, premiums have fallen in many parts of the country. You can check to see how your county compares on the interactive map at that KFF link. KFF found that "'free' ($0 premium) bronze plans are available in 84% of counties to the lowest-income subsidized Marketplace enrollees. Because insurers load additional costs onto silver plans, we also find that in 983 counties, gold premiums are lower than or comparable to the cost of silver plans."
Once again, chances are very, very good that you'll find a plan you can afford if you're in the market. But be aware that the junk health plan purveyors are out in force this year again after Trump sabotage let them loose. Here's a good rundown of the ways you can make sure you're not getting scammed by an insurer that's slipped into the open enrollment to snag unwitting customers.
If you need a plan, go to Healthcare.gov.