Covered California (the California Marketplace) announced this morning that it will sign contracts with the following 13 health plans, once plan rates are approved by state regulators:
- Alameda Alliance for Health
- Anthem Blue Cross of California
- Blue Shield of California
- Chinese Community Health Plan
- Contra Costa Health Services
- Health Net
- Kaiser Permanente
- L.A. Care Health Plan
- Molina Healthcare
- Sharp HealthCare
- Valley Health Plan
- Ventura County Health Care Plan
- Western Health Advantage
Carriers who declined to participate in the plans include Aetna, Cigna and United HealthGroup
The current list of insurers is for individual policies only. Covered California will announce its options for small businesses to buy health insurance in June.
Additional information is available at:
http://www.healthexchange.ca.gov/Pages/Default.aspx
Will All these Plans be Available Everywhere in California?
No. California has 19 different rating regions. According to the Covered California Press Release and statements made at the press conference, on average there will be five plans available in each rating region. In Los Angeles and San Diego there will be six plans available, and even in most rural areas consumers will have a choice of at least two plans.
Consumers will have a choice among various types of plans: Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) and Exclusive Provider Organizations (EPOs).
Rates
The following sample rates are from page 4 of Covered California’s powerpoint presentation announcing the qualified health plans (QHPs) selected for the Individual marketplace for 2014. The rates are for the silver level QHPs, and show the three lowest-cost silver QHPs in six different rating regions, as well as the average of these three. Rates are for a 40-year old.
|
County |
Lowest-Cost Silver Plan | 2nd Lowest-cost Silver Plan | 3rd Lowest-cost Silver Plan | Average Cost of these 3 plans |
|
Sacramento |
Anthem PPO $332 |
Blue Shield PPO $333 |
Kaiser HMO $347 |
$337 |
|
San Francisco |
Chinese Community HMO $306 |
Anthem EPO $373 |
Blue Shield PPO $374 |
$351 |
|
Alameda |
Blue Shield EPO $317 |
Anthem PPO $357 |
Kaiser HMO $365 |
$346 |
|
Los Angeles (North) |
HealthNet HMO $222 |
Blue Shield PPO $252 |
LA Care $253 |
$242
|
|
Los Angeles (South) |
HealthNet HMO $242 |
Anthem HMO $259 |
Molina PPO $259 |
$253
|
|
San Diego |
HealthNet HMO $269 |
Anthem EPO $308 |
Kaiser HMO $316 |
$298 |