Medical Expense✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 3/5
A Qualified Health Plan (QHP) differs from other Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) because a QHP:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why D is correct
A Qualified Health Plan (QHP) is a plan that is certified by a health benefit exchange and meets the exchange's requirements, including covering the Essential Health Benefits and meeting actuarial value standards for the applicable metal tier. Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) is a broader category that includes employer-sponsored plans, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, and QHPs. Every QHP is MEC, but not every MEC is a QHP, because the QHP label requires exchange certification.
Why the other options are wrong
- A) Medicare and Medicaid are types of MEC but are not exchange-certified QHPs.
- B) Employer-sponsored plans are MEC but are not QHPs unless they are certified by an exchange, which employer plans are not.
- C) Catastrophic plans are a special category of exchange coverage; they are not the defining feature of QHPs, and most QHPs are not catastrophic.
Memory hook
All QHPs are MEC, but MEC is the big tent. Exchange certification is what makes a plan 'qualified.'