HealthCare.gov Insurance Finder Gets Better for Consumers

On Monday, November 15, 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services updated the HealthCare.gov Insurance Finder with more information on private insurance plans.

Created under the Affordable Care Act, www.HealthCare.gov was launched July 1, 2010, and is the first website of its kind to bring information about private and public health coverage options into one place to make it easy for consumers to learn about and compare their insurance choices. 

HealthCare.gov and its Insurance Finder are critical new tools for consumers, making the health insurance market more transparent than it has ever been.

On October 1, the Insurance Finder added price estimates for private insurance policies for individuals and families, allowing consumers to easily compare health insurance plans – putting consumers, not their insurance companies, in charge and taking much of the guesswork and confusion out of buying insurance.

Insurance companies are also required to include two notable metrics never before made public:

• The percentage of people who applied for insurance and were denied coverage.
• The percentage of applicants who were charged higher premiums because of their health status.

Significant Increase in Options for Consumers to Compare & in Number of Health Insurance Companies in Finder

Today’s update represents a significant increase in the number of private insurance plans and the number of issuers represented:

• On October 1, there were 4,400 plans for individuals and families listed in the Finder, and today’s update brings that number to over 8,500.
• On October 1, there were 230 health insurance companies the individual and family market represented in the HealthCare.gov Insurance Finder, and today’s update brings the number of health insurance companies in the Finder to 299.

This update to HealthCare.gov further enhances the ability of Americans to find health care coverage that meets their needs and get the best value for their money.  And it represents a significant expansion in the transparency that HealthCare.gov is bringing to the insurance marketplace – transparency that leads to more competition between insurers and better value for consumers. 

Posted: November 15, 2010