Salt Lake City is One of 10 Places Where Health Insurance Costs the Least

Top 10 places with best insurance bargains, ranked by monthly premium:

• $154: Minneapolis-St. Paul
• $164: Pittsburgh and Northwestern Pennsylvania
• $166: Middle Minnesota
• $167: Tucson, Ariz.
• $171: Northwestern Minnesota
• $173: Salt Lake City
• $176: Hawaii
• $180: Knoxville, Tenn.
• $180: Western and North Central Minnesota.
• $181: Chattanooga, Tenn.

This list was compiled using the monthly silver premiums for a 40-year-old person. The ranking is based on rates listed in federal and state insurance marketplaces and data compiled by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers.

The 10 most expensive regions, ranked by monthly premiums:

• $483: Colorado Mountain Resort Region. Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties, home of Aspen and Vail ski resorts. Summit County premiums are $462.
• $461: Southwestern Georgia. Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Crisp, Dougherty, Lee, Mitchell, Randolph, Schley, Sumter, Terrell and Worth counties.
• $456: Rural Nevada. Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Elko, Mineral, Pershing, White Pine and Churchill counties.
• $445: Far western Wisconsin. Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties, across the border from St. Paul, Minn.
• $423: Southern Georgia. A swath of counties adjacent to the even more expensive Georgia region. Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Clinch, Colquitt, Cook, Decatur, Early, Echols, Grady, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Miller, Seminole, Thomas, Tift and Turner counties.
• $405: Most of Wyoming. All counties except Natrona and Laramie.
• $399: Southeast Mississippi. George, Harrison, Jackson and Stone counties. In Hancock County, the lowest price plan is $447.
• $395: Vermont.
• $383: Fairfield, Conn. The southwestern-most county, which includes many affluent commuter towns for New York City.
• $381: Alaska.

Content from Kaiser Health News: editorially independent program Kaiser Family Foundation on npr.org health news blog.  http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/12/276029983/the-10-places-where-health-insurance-costs-the-least