Missouri health insurance marketplace guide 2023

Louise Norris | March 27, 2023

Key takeaways

Read frequently asked questions about marketplace enrollment, rates and carriers in Missouri
Lawmakers considered, but did not pass, legislation to create reinsurance program
A 2016 law created an effective rate review program in Missouri, so the state no longer relies on the federal government for rate review
Navigator restrictions permanently blocked by federal judge
The history of Missouri's health insurance exchange
See links to resources for the Missouri health insurance marketplace.

Missouri health insurance exchange overview

Missouri uses the federally run health insurance exchange with ten carriers offering marketplace coverage for 2023. That includes UnitedHealthcare, which had previously exited the market in Missouri at the end of 2016.

Average premiums grew by about 11% in Missouri for 2023. But that was calculated before subsidies were applied, and subsidies grow to keep pace with the cost of the benchmark plan (second-lowest-cost silver plan) in each area.

Enrollment for 2022 increased significantly over 2021 enrollment, despite the fact that Missouri’s Medicaid expansion took effect in the fall of 2021. And enrollment grew again in 2023, surpassing all previous years except 2016. The higher enrollment was driven in large part by the improved affordability created by the American Rescue Plan’s subsidy enhancements — which have been extended through 2025 by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Frequently asked questions about Missouri's ACA marketplace

What type of health insurance marketplace does Missouri utilize?

Missouri uses the federally facilitated marketplace/exchange, which means residents enroll through HealthCare.gov if they want a plan through the exchange.

When can I enroll in health insurance in Missouri?

The open enrollment period for individual/family health coverage runs from November 1 through January 15 in Missouri. Enrollments need to be completed by December 15 in order to have coverage effective January 1.

Outside of open enrollment, a qualifying event is necessary to enroll or make changes to your coverage.

If you have questions about open enrollment, you can learn more in our comprehensive guide to open enrollment.

Which health insurance carriers offer coverage in the Missouri marketplace?

For 2023 coverage, Missouri’s exchange has ten participating insurers, up from nine in 2022, with UnitedHealthcare rejoining the state’s marketplace (after previously exiting at the end of 2016). The following insurers offer plans in Missouri’s exchange for 2023, with varying coverage areas:

Aetna
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City
Celtic
Cigna
Cox Health Systems
Anthem/Healthy Alliance Life Insurance Company
Medica
Oscar
SSM Health Insurance Company
UnitedHealthcare (new for 2023)

Which health insurance carriers have offered coverage in the Missouri marketplace in the past?

Aetna subsidiary Coventry offered plans in the Missouri exchange until the end of 2016, but abruptly exited the exchange market two weeks before the start of open enrollment for 2017 coverage. I talked with the Missouri Department of Insurance about Coventry’s market share in 2016, and they said that the size of the individual market had “exploded” in Missouri, and that Coventry had picked up a disproportionate number of the new enrollees, since their rates had been among the lowest in the state.

UnitedHealthcare also exited the exchange in Missouri at the end of 2016, and stopped selling any ACA-compliant individual market plans, on- or off-exchange.

So Missouri’s exchange had four participating insurers for 2017. But two of them — Humana and Blue KC — announced that they would exit the exchange at the end of 2017, and did not offer plans for 2018. The other two — Anthem (Healthy Alliance Life) and Cigna — continued to offer coverage in the exchange (Cigna’s participation was limited to 10 counties in the St. Louis area and five counties in the Kansas City Area).

In 25 counties in western Missouri, Blue KC’s impending exit initially meant that there were no insurers slated to offer exchange coverage in 2018 (all but the five Kansas City-area counties where Cigna also offered coverage). Blue KC noted in their announcement that they had lost more than $100 million on their ACA-compliant individual market plans through 2016, calling the losses unsustainable.

Blue KC sought, and obtained, an exemption from the five-year ban on re-entering a market after exiting (the ban on re-entry is a HIPAA regulation that long pre-dates the ACA). Because Blue KC continued to renew their grandmothered and grandfathered plans, their exit from the ACA-compliant individual market was not considered a full market exit, allowing them to begin selling individual market plans again at any point in the future (they are rejoining the individual market for 2021, both on-exchange and off-exchange).

In June 2017, Missouri Insurance Director Chlora Lindley-Myers announced that Ambetter/Celtic Insurance (a Centene company) would be joining the exchange for 2018, and would offer coverage in all 25 of the counties that would otherwise have been left without an insurer in the wake of Blue KC’s exit. In total, Ambetter/Celtic offered exchange plans in 40 counties in Missouri in 2018.

Missouri exchange dropped from four insurers to three in 2018

So Missouri’s exchange had three insurers in 2018: Anthem (Healthy Alliance Life Insurance), Cigna, and Ambetter/Celtic (Centene). But that grew to four for 2019, with Medica’s announcement in June 2018 that they planned to join the Missouri exchange in the Kansas City area (Cass, Clay, Jackson, and Platte counties) as of 2019. Medica began offering plans on the Kansas side of the Kansas City area in 2018, and expanded into the Missouri side for 2019.

The Missouri Department of Insurance created a map that shows the coverage areas of the four individual market insurers for 2019 (plans are available both on and off-exchange). In four counties in the Kansas City area, plans are available from three insurers (Cigna, Medica, and Ambetter/Celtic).

Consumers in the St. Louis area could choose from two insurers in 2019, as could consumers in southwestern Missouri. But most rural areas of the state continued to have just one insurer offering plans — in most cases, either Anthem (Healthy Alliance Life) or Celtic/Ambetter.

Anthem’s coverage area shrank in 2018, but expanded in 2019

Until the end of 2017, Anthem offered exchange plans in most of Missouri — everywhere except the 30 western counties that were served by Blue KC. For 2018, however, Anthem’s participation was reduced to 68 counties (a full list is in a press release), and the insurer noted that these were all counties that would otherwise have had no insurers offering coverage.

Among the areas Anthem exited were Boone County (Columbia) and the St. Louis area. In both of those areas, Cigna plans were available for 2019.

Anthem exited these 16 counties: Barry, Boone, Christian, Franklin, Greene, Jasper, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Newton, Saint Charles, Saint Francois, Saint Louis, Sainte Genevieve, Warren, and Washington. For 2019, however, Anthem increased their coverage area to 76 counties, returning to Barry, Boone, Christian, Greene, Jasper, Lawrence, Newton, and Saint Francois counties.

Three new insurers joined Missouri’s marketplace for 2020

In addition to the four existing insurers, three new insurers joined Missouri’s exchange for the 2020 plan year:

Cox Health Systems began offering EPO plans in seven counties in the Springfield area (Barry, Christian, Greene, Lawrence, Stone, Taney, and Webster, all of which are in Rating Area 8). Cox did not participate in the individual market in Missouri in 2019, but they did offer plans outside the exchange in 2018. For 2020, Cox’s filing noted that their plans would only be available through the exchange, with a projected enrollment of about 8,000 people.
Oscar Health began offering coverage on- and off-exchange in the Kansas City area for 2020 (Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties). Oscar’s filing indicated that they anticipated about 2,500 individual market enrollees for 2020. Oscar has not previously offered coverage in Missouri’s individual market.
SSM Health Insurance (WellFirst) began offering coverage on- and off-exchange in St. Charles County, St. Louis County, and St. Louis City, which are all in Rating Area 6. SSM is an integrated delivery system with an established presence in the midwest, but they had not previously offered coverage in Missouri’s individual market.

Blue KC returns to western Missouri marketplace for 2021

All seven existing insurers are continuing to offer coverage in Missouri’s exchange in 2021, with varying coverage areas, and Blue KC has returned to the marketplace. Blue KC is offering coverage in the same 30 western Missouri counties where they previously offered coverage.

Aetna joined Missouri marketplace for 2022; three insurers expanded coverage areas

For 2022 coverage, Missouri’s marketplace had nine participating insurers. Aetna rejoined the marketplace with plans available in 34 counties. And Celtic/Ambetter, Medica, and Oscar all expanded their coverage areas (coverage areas for 2022 are here; coverage areas for 2021 are here).

How did Missouri exchange premiums change for 2023?

The following average rate increases were approved for Missouri’s marketplace insurers for 2023 coverage:

Anthem (Healthy Alliance Life Insurance): 2.62% increase
Cigna: 18.7% increase
Ambetter/Celtic (Centene): 8.8% increase
Medica: 17.7% increase
SSM/WellFirst: 9.66% increase
Cox: 2.8% decrease
Oscar: 6.7% increase
Blue KC (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City): 20.24% increase
Aetna: 0.2% decrease
UnitedHealthcare: New for 2023, so no applicable rate change

The rates were reviewed by Missouri regulators and found to be reasonable with only very slight changes. Overall, the average rate change for 2023 amounted to an increase of about 11%.

As is always the case, premium changes refer to full-price premiums, before subsidies are applied. Most Missouri marketplace enrollees receive premium subsidies, however, which offset some or all of the cost of their coverage. And subsidies are larger and more widely available than they used to be, thanks to the American Rescue Plan’s subsidy enhancements, which have been extended through 2025 by the Inflation Reduction Act.

How have premiums changed in Missouri's exchange in previous years?

For perspective, here’s a summary of how premiums have changed in Missouri’s marketplace in prior years:

How many people are enrolled through Missouri's health insurance exchange?

During the open enrollment period for 2023 coverage, 257,629 people enrolled in private plans through Missouri’s exchange/marketplace.

That was an increase of nearly seven thousand people over the year before, when more than 250,000 people enrolled. And the 2022 enrollment had been an increase of 35,000 over the prior year’s open enrollment period, despite the fact that Missouri’s Medicaid expansion took effect in the fall of 2021.

When a state expands Medicaid, marketplace enrollment tends to drop, as people with income between 100% and 138% of the poverty level shift from subsidized marketplace coverage to Medicaid. But even with that shift, enrollment in Missouri’s marketplace plans still grew for 2022, and grew again for 2023.

The enrollment growth is primarily due to the enhanced premium subsidies created by the American Rescue Plan, but also the longer enrollment period that began to be used as of 2022, and the additional federal funding for enrollment outreach and assistance.

For perspective, here’s a look at prior enrollment numbers in Missouri’s exchange:

Nationwide, there was an enrollment drop of about 5% in 2017, although Missouri’s enrollment dropped more sharply, by about 16%. The enrollment declines in 2017 and 2018 were due to a variety of factors, including uncertainty about GOP efforts to repeal the ACA, the Trump administration’s decision to sharply reduce funding for exchange marketing and enrollment assistance, and sharp premium increases for people who aren’t eligible for premium subsidies (those rate increases were partly due to the market instability caused by GOP efforts to repeal the ACA).

There was another nationwide average enrollment decline in 2018 of about 5%. Enrollment trended upwards nationwide in 2021 for the first time in several years, and that was the case in Missouri as well.

For 2022, nationwide enrollment hit a record high. Missouri’s enrollment increased sharply, but didn’t reach a record high because Medicaid expansion took effect in Missouri in 2021, shifting some enrollees over to Medicaid instead. Nationwide enrollment again hit a record high in 2023, but Missouri’s enrollment was still lower than it had been in 2016, due to Medicaid expansion.

Would ACA subsidies lower your health insurance premiums?

Use our 2023 subsidy calculator to see if you’re eligible for ACA premium subsidies – and your potential savings if you qualify.

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Lawmakers considered, but did not pass, legislation to create reinsurance program

Reinsurance refers to a system in which insurance companies can pass off certain high-cost claims to a third party (the reinsurance program). Reinsurance kicks in when a claim reaches a certain level, and then the reinsurance program pays a percentage of the claim until it reaches another certain level. The ACA included a federal reinsurance program, but it was temporary and only lasted through 2016. To counter rising premiums and stabilize local insurance markets, states are increasingly pursuing their own reinsurance program. As of the 2023 plan year, seventeen states are receiving federal “pass-through” funding for reinsurance.

Reinsurance results in lower overall premiums, which means premium subsidies are also lower. Instead of having the federal government keep the savings from the lower premium subsidies, a state can use a 1332 waiver to have the savings pass through to the state. Then the money is used by the state to cover the majority of the cost of operating the reinsurance program.

But it’s important to note that reinsurance primarily only benefits people who pay full price for their health insurance. People who receive a subsidy (which includes the vast majority of enrollees; 91% of Missouri exchange enrollees were receiving subsidy as of 2022) are generally not helped and will sometimes find that their after-subsidy premiums go up when a reinsurance program is introduced (if the subsidy amounts decline by more than their own policy’s premium declines). Prior to 2021, the “subsidy cliff” meant that people with household income above 400% of the poverty level were always ineligible for subsidies. But the American Rescue Plan eliminated the subsidy cliff in 2021, and that’s been extended through 2025 by the Inflation Reduction Act. Until if and when the subsidy cliff returns, there is very little need for reinsurance programs, and new ones could potentially do more harm than good. (Legislation has been introduced in 2023 to create a reinsurance program in Missouri, but had not advanced as of late March.)

But prior to the American Rescue Plan, reinsurance programs were one of the approaches that states could use to help people affected by the subsidy cliff. H.B.2539 / SB1071 was considered by Missouri lawmakers in 2018, but neither bill reached a full vote. The legislation would have reactivated the former Missouri Health Insurance Pool (the state’s pre-ACA high-risk pool), but it would have become the Missouri Reinsurance Pool instead. The fees that were previously assessed on insurers under the MHIP would have started to apply again, to be used to fund the reinsurance program. Between 1991 and 2014, carriers in Missouri paid an average of nearly $6.5 million per year in fees for MHIP.

In addition to state funding, the legislation would have directed the state to apply for a 1332 waiver in order to obtain federal pass-through savings to fund the reinsurance program, starting in 2019. In the states that receive federal pass-through funding for reinsurance, the federal funding covers the majority of the cost of the program.

During the 2018 session, Missouri lawmakers also rejected bills that would have increased the allowable duration of short-term plans, expanded access to association health plans, expanded Medicaid, and added a work requirement to Medicaid.

Transparency and rate review

In May 2016, lawmakers in Missouri unanimously passed SB 865, and then-Governor Jay Nixon signed it in early July. The new law called for numerous changes in the state’s health care systems, including added transparency for health insurance rates.

Prior to March 2017, Missouri was one of four states without an effective rate review process for ACA-compliant plans (there were five until April 2016, when Alabama implemented an effective rate review process). State regulators did not take an active role in reviewing proposed rates, and the Missouri Department of Insurance did not have access to the rate filings at all. The federal government (specifically, CCIIO – the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight) conducted the rate review process for Missouri, and rates were published on Healthcare.gov’s rate review page.

SB 865 gives state regulators a bit more leeway but does not actually give them the power to deny rate changes that aren’t justified. Under the new law, regulators are now able to review and publish rate proposals, and determine whether the proposed rates are reasonable. If they aren’t, the regulators will let the health insurers know, but the insurers will still have the option to implement the rates as-proposed. In that case, the state will be able to publicize the fact that the unjustified rates were implemented, but the state will not have the authority to prevent carriers from implementing rates that aren’t justified.

It should be noted that this system is what CCIIO previously provided in Missouri. The federal government can determine whether proposed rates in the state are justified, but they cannot prevent insurers from implementing unjustified rates. Now that SB 865 has taken effect, the state has taken over the process that was previously conducted by CCIIO.

CMS notified Missouri on March 17, 2017, that the state had been deemed to have an effective rate review program. At that point only three states — Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming — were still relying on CCIIO for rate review. Texas implemented an effective rate review program in 2022 (for 2023 coverage), leaving only Oklahoma and Wyoming relying on the federal government’s rate review process.

Navigator restrictions permanently blocked by federal judge

Missouri is one of about 15 states that has more restrictive training and certification requirements for navigators than what’s required under federal standards. Missouri legislation also prohibits navigators from providing “advice concerning the benefits, terms and features of a particular health plan, or offer advice about which exchange health plan is better or worse for a particular individual or employer.”

Several health care advocacy groups challenged the restriction on providing advice, saying that is the core function of navigators. In January 2014, a federal judge agreed and issued an injunction to halt enforcement of the law. And in April 2015, a federal appeals court concurred, ruling that Missouri could not restrict navigators from helping people enroll in plans through Healthcare.gov.

In March 2016, a federal judge permanently blocked three sections of Missouri’s restrictions on navigators. Navigators in Missouri cannot be barred from providing advice to enrollees (note that this is limited to explaining the differences between plans; plan selection advice can only be provided by a licensed insurance producer). Nor can they be banned from discussing off-exchange plans with consumers. And finally, navigators cannot be required to refer currently-insured consumers to seek advice from a licensed insurance producer. The judge noted that navigators are supposed to be impartial, and forcing them to refer people to insurance agents — who are permitted to recommend one plan over another — would remove some of the impartiality that applies to navigators.

Missouri exchange history

Many Missouri legislators have steadfastly fought against the Affordable Care Act and the implementation of the health insurance marketplace. Lawmakers in the state also resisted the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid, but voters ultimately passed a ballot measure that resulted in Medicaid expansion taking effect in 2021.

Legislation to establish an exchange was introduced but failed to pass in both 2011 and 2012. Despite the lack of legislative authorization, some initial workgroups were established. In 2011, then-Gov. Jay Nixon established the Health Insurance Exchange Coordinating Council, which did some initial scoping and planning. Also in 2011, the Senate created the Interim Committee on Health Insurance Exchanges to explore Missouri’s options to establish a state-based exchange.

Members of the Interim Senate committee refused to authorize the use of federal grant money. In April 2012, the Missouri legislature rejected a $50 million grant to upgrade the state’s Medicaid information system as some legislators believed the system would be used as a springboard to building a state-run exchange.

In May 2012, the Missouri legislature approved a ballot measure to prevent the executive branch from authorizing a state-based health insurance exchange without legislative or popular approval — even though Gov. Nixon repeatedly stated his administration would not authorize an exchange by executive order. Voters passed the ballot measure in November 2012, and state defaulted to the federally operated exchange.

In January 2015, Republican Sen. Bob Onder filed a bill that he said was aimed at blocking the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. SB 51 would have revoked a health insurance company’s license to sell policies in Missouri if it accepted federal subsidies for policies sold through the federal marketplace. It’s questionable what impact the bill would have had if it had passed. One legal expert told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “It’s sort of an exercise in futility.” Ultimately, the bill didn’t advance out of committee.

Missouri health insurance exchange links

HealthCare.gov
800-318-2596

State Exchange Profile: Missouri
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation overview of Missouri’s progress toward creating a state health insurance exchange.

Missouri Department of Insurance
Assists people insured by private health plans, Medicaid, or other plans in resolving problems pertaining to their health coverage; assists uninsured residents with access to care.
(800) 726-7390 / [email protected]

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

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