The primary goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make purchasing health insurance easier and more accessible. Health Insurance Exchanges will help facilitate this by enabling people to search for and compare private health plans and enroll in a comprehensive plan. This will be especially helpful for small businesses and individuals, as exchanges will expand the options available to both.
The state of California has been awarded several grants to aid in the development of a health care exchange, and the state is moving forward with implementation. The state exchange is now known officially as Covered California and will be implemented when the individual health insurance mandate takes effect at the beginning of 2014.
The exchange will offer small businesses and individuals plans from five different categories, which include platinum, gold, silver, bronze, and the “catastrophic plan” (limited to individuals under age 30), and the plans will vary in cost and coverage accordingly.
The plans offered through Covered California must offer essential health benefits similar to those of a typical employer-sponsored plan, and the exchange will negotiate with insurers to provide the best rates possible.
A knowledgeable, licensed insurance agent is your best resource for information about Covered California. Benefit Packages has been helping individuals and businesses obtain California health insurance plans for over 20 years. The company prides itself on its breadth of knowledge and personalized service. For more information, or for a health insurance quote, visit benefitpackages.com.