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'How Much Will Obamacare Cost Me?' Try Our Calculator

No envelope backs required for this health care calculation.
iStockphoto.com
No envelope backs required for this health care calculation.

On Tuesday, if all goes according to plan, the federal health law's marketplaces for individual health insurance are scheduled to open for business.

Nearly all Americans will be required to have health insurance starting Jan. 1, 2014, or else they'll be liable for a tax penalty.

Even now, there is quite a bit of confusion about the law and how it will work. The administration has even enlisted former President Bill Clinton to serve as the law's explainer in chief.

On the eve of the marketplaces' planned opening, many people aren't sure if they'll qualify for subsidized insurance. Many also have no clear idea of how much their insurance tab would run.

If you've asked yourself, "How much will Obamacare cost me?" We can help you find the answer.

A calculator produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation in collaboration with NPR allows shoppers to find out if they qualify for subsidized insurance coverage or Medicaid.

Enter your ZIP code, income, age, family size and a few other factors into the calculator to get subsidy estimates and insurance premiums available for coverage sold on the marketplaces, or exchanges, once enrollment begins.

The calculator makes use of premium data from 46 states plus the District of Columbia. The remaining four states (Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont) either set premiums using different formulas or haven't provided data yet.

As states release details about the insurance plans that will be offered in their exchanges, Kaiser and NPR will update the calculator.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Hensley edits stories about health, biomedical research and pharmaceuticals for NPR's Science desk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has led the desk's reporting on the development of vaccines against the coronavirus.