If you've ever talked to friends and family about health insurance coverage, you've probably noticed that prices vary significantly across plans. What exactly makes your insurance more or less than others? Although you may find slightly different prices depending on companies and how they calculate the costs but there are five factors which affect your premium.

1. Age

Health insurance companies know that younger adults are going to be less likely to have high medical costs. In fact, you can expect to pay as much as three times for health insurance when you're elderly than when you're younger. As you age, your health insurance premium may increase even if you're in good health.

2. Location

Where you live is going to affect the cost of your plan as well. Differences in competition as well as state and local rules may increase or lower the cost of healthcare plans. The cost of living in general will also have an affect on your plan. You may expect to pay more for health insurance when you live in an urban area while rural areas may have slightly lower costs. Other factors such as the general health of the area may play into costs as well.

3. Tobacco Use

If you're a smoker, then insurers can charge you up to 50% more than those that don't use tobacco. The good news is that you can often take advantage of health insurance programs aimed at helping people quit using tobacco which may then give you some money back or reduce your costs in general. Insurance companies want to know if you smoke or chew tobacco or use it in any other way.

4. Individual or Family Enrollment

This is an area that makes sense to most people. Plans that only cover a single person tend to be less expensive than family plans. Even a plan that covers just you and your spouse are going to be higher than just covering yourself. Any dependents added onto you plan will raise costs as well.

5. Plan Category

There are five categories for healthcare plans: bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and catastrophic. As you might guess, the categories are based on how you and the healthcare plan are going to share medical costs. A bronze plan is going to have the lowest premiums although you'll pay more out-of-pocket when you seek out medical care. The platinum plan is going to have a higher premium but when you need medical care, you can expect to pay the lowest costs for that care. There isn't one correct choice for everyone but you'll want to factor in the costs that you can pay out-of-pocket and also what you can afford to pay for your premium to make a decision.

Finally, some insurance companies may offer additional benefits which can also affect your costs. You typically have the ability to opt in or out of these additional benefits but they may be helpful for you long-term. When it comes to understanding the cost of healthcare, these are the factors which are going to determine how much you can expect to pay.