Articles
Detailed, sourced guides to the decisions that actually move your costs — enrollment, subsidies, and how coverage really works in 2026.
Enrollment
How to add a new baby to your health insurance (and your newborn to Medicaid)
· 11 min read
A birth, adoption, or foster placement gives you 60 days to add your baby to coverage — and the coverage can start the day they were born. Here's exactly how to do it, the mistake that costs new parents the most, and how the rules shift state by state.
Health insurance options if you lose your job: COBRA vs Marketplace vs Medicaid
· 15 min read
Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day Special Enrollment Period — you don't wait for Open Enrollment. Here's COBRA vs a Marketplace plan vs Medicaid compared honestly: what each really costs, when COBRA is worth its full price, and how losing income often means a bigger subsidy or free coverage.
Costs
Why are health insurance premiums so high in 2026? And practical ways to cut your costs
· 17 min read
Marketplace premiums feel brutal in 2026 mostly because the enhanced subsidies expired at the end of 2025, so the 400% income cliff is back and the amount you pay after the subsidy jumped — on top of normal medical-cost inflation. Here's what's driving it and a step-by-step playbook to get your real cost back down.
Is a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) right for you? Pros, cons, and real examples
· 14 min read
A high-deductible health plan is the right call if you're generally healthy, can cover the deductible in a bad year, and will actually fund the Health Savings Account it lets you open — the HSA's triple tax break is the whole point. It's the wrong call if you have a chronic condition, a surgery or baby on the calendar, or you won't fund the HSA, in which case you've just bought a high deductible with no upside. Here's how to tell which one you are, with real numbers.
Employer plan vs. Marketplace plan: which gives you better value?
· 15 min read
If your job offers health insurance, one rule usually decides which is the better deal — taking it or shopping the Marketplace: whether the IRS considers your work offer 'affordable.' Here's how each side actually costs out, why an affordable employer offer blocks your subsidy, the family-glitch fix that can still rescue your spouse and kids, and when the Marketplace genuinely wins.
Deductible vs premium: which matters more when you choose a health plan?
· 15 min read
Your premium is what you pay every month to keep the plan; your deductible is what you pay when you actually use it. Neither 'matters more' on its own — they're a trade-off, and a low premium almost always rides on a high deductible. The honest way to choose is to compare each plan's worst case: a full year of premiums plus the out-of-pocket maximum. Here's how, with real dollars.
Self-employed
Health insurance for freelancers, gig workers, and small business owners
· 16 min read
With no employer plan, the ACA marketplace is your main path to health insurance — and you don't need an LLC or a business license to use it. Here's how the premium tax credit works when your income is lumpy, the self-employed deduction that stacks on top, when to pair an HSA, and when Medicaid is the better answer.
Coverage basics
What does health insurance actually cover? Preventive care, prescriptions, mental health, and more
· 16 min read
Every plan sold on the ACA marketplace has to cover ten Essential Health Benefits — hospital stays, prescriptions, maternity, mental health, and free preventive care among them. Here's what 'covered' really includes, what it leaves out, and why covered almost never means free.
Out-of-pocket maximum vs. deductible: what's the difference?
· 9 min read
Your deductible is the starting line — what you pay before the plan helps. Your out-of-pocket maximum is the finish line — the most you can ever pay in a year. Mixing them up is how people pick the wrong plan and lose thousands. Here's exactly how the money flows, with the numbers.
How to read your Summary of Benefits and Coverage (without getting lost)
· 14 min read
Every health plan must give you a Summary of Benefits and Coverage — a short, standardized document that shows the real cost-sharing behind the marketing. Here's how to read every section, from the deductible box at the top to the coverage examples at the bottom, and how to use two SBCs to compare plans line by line.
How to compare health insurance plans online: a step-by-step checklist
· 18 min read
The cheapest premium is almost never the cheapest plan. Here's how to compare health insurance plans on HealthCare.gov or your state exchange the right way — starting with your subsidy, judging plans on total yearly cost, and confirming your doctors, hospitals, and prescriptions before you enroll.
HMO vs PPO vs EPO vs POS: which health plan type should you choose?
· 14 min read
The four plan-type letters come down to two questions: do you need referrals, and does the plan pay anything out of network. HMO is cheapest and strictest, PPO is the most flexible and priciest, EPO and POS sit in between. Here's how each one actually works, how to pick, and the single check that matters more than the letters.
Health insurance scams and red flags: how to spot junk plans and fake offers
· 15 min read
A real ACA health plan never costs suspiciously little for 'comprehensive' coverage, never asks health questions, and is never sold by a same-day robocall. Here are the red flags of a junk plan and a scam, what real coverage actually guarantees, and how to buy safely straight from HealthCare.gov or your state marketplace.
Does your health insurance cover telehealth and online doctor visits?
· 16 min read
Almost certainly yes — most marketplace and employer plans cover telehealth, but 'covered' isn't 'free,' and the price varies a lot by plan. Here's how the cost works, what virtual care is genuinely good for, where it falls short, and the one HSA rule that just changed in your favor.
Common health insurance exclusions that surprise people later
· 16 min read
The bills that blindside people usually aren't from things their plan flat-out excludes — they're from out-of-network care, drugs off the formulary, services that needed prior authorization, and 'junk' plans that quietly leave out the big stuff. Here's what tends to be excluded, what's actually a denial you can fight, and how to check before it costs you.