Bronze vs Gold vs Silver: standard health-plan cost shares (reference 2026)
Gold has the highest standard insurer share among these categories: 80%. Bronze: 60%; Gold: 80%; Silver: 70%. These are population-level actuarial shares, not percentages guaranteed on your bills.
Compare the same basis
Every column uses the API reference year 2026, standard actuarial values, and no Silver cost-sharing reductions. No age, income, ZIP, medical condition or personal information was submitted. The calculation table reports the original API fractions; multiply a fraction by one hundred to express it as a percentage.
Choose using your actual plan terms
The highest standard insurer share is the sole ranking objective. Premiums, deductibles, provider networks, medications and individual eligibility are not compared; this ranking does not select the best plan for you. Standard Silver is shown without cost-sharing reductions. If eligible, Silver extra savings can change the comparison; check Marketplace eligibility and actual plan terms before choosing.
Explore your situation
Open the Pelandri calculator. The calculator link carries this comparison and attribution, but the deployed form does not apply those parameters automatically. Enter your own profile there. Availability and correctness of personalized plan results are not established by this reference comparison. Confirm current plans and eligibility through the Marketplace.
More Pelandri comparisons. Read the standard category definitions.
Calculation provenance
One live defaults response supplies all columns, matched by key and reference year. Only bronze, silver, gold and platinum actuarial-value constants are admitted; the premium, subsidy, inflation and county tables are excluded from this comparison. The API labels each constant with its statute paragraph, 42 U.S.C. 18022(d)(1)(A) to (D), and reference year 2026. The standard values were checked against the statute and HealthCare.gov on 2026-10-11. The API provides no collection/update date or empirical sample size; request time is not data vintage. Sample size UNAVAILABLE. Inspect the API defaults. Response hashes and retrieval times are retained separately in the calculation record.
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Calculation data
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| reference_year | 2026 |
| Measure | Bronze | Gold | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard insurer actuarial share (fraction) | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| Distance from winning value (fraction) | 0.2 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Decision | Alternative value | Winning value | Alternative value |
Winner: Gold. Objective: maximize. Margin to next option: 0.1 fraction. Assumption: Highest standard insurer actuarial share only; no premium, personal cost, quality or best-plan recommendation. Standard Silver excludes cost-sharing reductions.
- winner
- gold
- objective
- maximize
- metric
- insurerShare
Source and assumptions
- Compare standard metal categories using the same reference year. Values are actuarial shares for a standard population, not the share of any individual bill or a prediction of personal spending.
- One live defaults response supplies all columns, matched by key and reference year. Only bronze, silver, gold and platinum actuarial-value constants are admitted; the premium, subsidy, inflation and county tables are excluded from this comparison.
- The highest standard insurer share is the sole ranking objective. Premiums, deductibles, provider networks, medications and individual eligibility are not compared; this ranking does not select the best plan for you.
- Standard Silver is shown without cost-sharing reductions. If eligible, Silver extra savings can change the comparison; check Marketplace eligibility and actual plan terms before choosing.
- The API labels each constant with its statute paragraph, 42 U.S.C. 18022(d)(1)(A) to (D), and reference year 2026. The standard values were checked against the statute and HealthCare.gov on 2026-10-11. The API provides no collection/update date or empirical sample size; request time is not data vintage.
Bronze. Data layer: Pelandri plan_defaults, statutory standard metal constants only. Source: 42 U.S.C. 18022(d)(1); HealthCare.gov standard categories. Vintage: API reference year 2026; collection/update date unavailable. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-11T20:15:07.930Z
Source updated: Unreported
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
4c2b89164b548bccffd5890f81b2c7a74638e21a8a2ca36bd396006796ac91daGold. Data layer: Pelandri plan_defaults, statutory standard metal constants only. Source: 42 U.S.C. 18022(d)(1); HealthCare.gov standard categories. Vintage: API reference year 2026; collection/update date unavailable. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-11T20:15:07.930Z
Source updated: Unreported
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
4c2b89164b548bccffd5890f81b2c7a74638e21a8a2ca36bd396006796ac91daSilver. Data layer: Pelandri plan_defaults, statutory standard metal constants only. Source: 42 U.S.C. 18022(d)(1); HealthCare.gov standard categories. Vintage: API reference year 2026; collection/update date unavailable. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-11T20:15:07.930Z
Source updated: Unreported
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
4c2b89164b548bccffd5890f81b2c7a74638e21a8a2ca36bd396006796ac91daQuestions about this comparison
Which category has the highest standard insurer share?
Gold has the highest standard insurer share among these categories: 80%. Bronze: 60%; Gold: 80%; Silver: 70%. These are population-level actuarial shares, not percentages guaranteed on your bills.
What is held constant?
Every column uses the API reference year 2026, standard actuarial values, and no Silver cost-sharing reductions. No age, income, ZIP, medical condition or personal information was submitted.
Does this identify the cheapest plan for me?
The highest standard insurer share is the sole ranking objective. Premiums, deductibles, provider networks, medications and individual eligibility are not compared; this ranking does not select the best plan for you. Standard Silver is shown without cost-sharing reductions. If eligible, Silver extra savings can change the comparison; check Marketplace eligibility and actual plan terms before choosing.
How can I explore my own situation?
The calculator link carries this comparison and attribution, but the deployed form does not apply those parameters automatically. Enter your own profile there. Availability and correctness of personalized plan results are not established by this reference comparison. Confirm current plans and eligibility through the Marketplace.