Medical Expense✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
A Qualified Health Plan (QHP) offered on the Exchange is a health plan that:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
A Qualified Health Plan (QHP) is a health plan certified by the Exchange, offering the ten essential health benefit categories and complying with federal requirements on cost-sharing limits, actuarial value, and network adequacy. QHPs are the products sold through Covered California and other state exchanges, and only purchase of a QHP through the Exchange makes a consumer eligible for premium tax credits. The certification and benefit requirements described in A are the core definition of a QHP under the ACA.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Short-term limited-duration plans are sold outside the Exchange and do not meet the EHB or certification requirements, so they are not QHPs. Those products bypass Exchange certification and do not meet EHB or QHP standards.
- C) Catastrophic plans are a separate, restricted product available only to young adults and hardship-exempt individuals; they are not the general definition of a QHP. Catastrophic plans are a narrow exception for young adults and hardship cases, not a general QHP definition.
- D) QHPs carry deductibles and cost-sharing within federal out-of-pocket limits; no rule requires QHPs to be sold without any cost-sharing or deductible. Cost-sharing within federal limits is a standard and permitted feature of every QHP.
Memory hook
QHP = the Exchange's certified stamp: EHB inside, federal standards met, tax credits unlocked.