Alabama uses the federal marketplace at HealthCare.gov for individual and family health insurance plans, rather than running its own exchange. Residents create an account directly on the federal site to compare plans, check subsidy eligibility, and enroll each year.
Alabama has not adopted the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. This means some adults with very low incomes, below the poverty line but who don't qualify under the state's traditional Medicaid rules, can fall into a coverage gap where they earn too much for Medicaid but too little to qualify for marketplace subsidies.
People shopping for coverage in Alabama should pay close attention to premium tax credit estimates during enrollment, since subsidies are often the difference between an affordable plan and a costly one. It's also worth checking whether a household's income estimate for the year is accurate, since that number drives both subsidy amount and Medicaid eligibility screening.