Everybody says go to healthcare.gov and select a plan for your needs, but they all look the same.

I am going to be out of the country for most of next year, but maintaining residency in North Carolina (I will be abroad less than 330 days in 2024). My employer will provide health insurance coverage in the country I will be working in, but it is not designed for major surgery, etc. I want to retain a marketplace plan and have been repeatedly advised to just input my needs and healthcare.gov will issue relevant choices. This simply isn't true. They all look the same.

Since it is likely that my tax credit may not cover the entire premium, I want to get something other than my current plan, which has a premium of $1,038. My current tax credit pays $997, but I anticipate higher AGI next year. Since I will not be visiting doctors and getting routine stuff done for most of the year, I want a fall-back plan that will pay for a disaster in case I need to return home unexpectedly for medical care — the typical example is an unexpected cancer diagnosis.

As far as I can tell, there is no easy way to distinguish what the best alternatives are on healtchare.gov. Everybody says there is, but that simply isn't true, as far as I can tell. I want the best plan for in case all hell breaks loose, but otherwise has no unneeded bells and whistles.

Any ideas on a way forward?

submitted by /u/JubileeSupreme
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