HealthPocket Compares Affordable Care Act Health Plan Options to 2013 Market

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Given the recent release of the Health & Human Services' report on the health plan options within the new Affordable Care Act marketplaces, HealthPocket investigated how the number of health plan options on these marketplaces compare to the existing options for individual & family health insurance. For the 36 states that will be using some form of the federal health insurance exchange, there were records of 1,483 different Affordable Care Act health plans. This amount translated into an average of 41 health plans per state. In comparison, HealthPocket's study found the 2013 individual and family health insurance market had 4,208 plans for the same 36 states, averaging 117 plans per state.

The plans offered on-exchange starting October 1st will be considerably different than what is offered on the market today. These new plans will be categorized according to the percentage of covered medical costs paid by the insurer. As previous research from HealthPocket has demonstrated, the new Affordable Care Act plans will have considerably broader benefit coverage than is the case for the existing individual and family health insurance market. Specifically, they all will have coverage for 10 Essential Health Benefits. Additionally, not all Affordable Care Act health plans will be available on exchanges. Some of the new health plans will only be offered off-exchange.

HealthPocket provides its health insurance research to help consumers and provide context for discussions about the transformation of the American health plan market. Journalists interested in leveraging HealthPocket's market research for articles on healthcare can review HealthPocket's data initiative for journalists.

HealthPocket.com is a free website that compares and ranks all health insurance plans available to an individual, family, or small business to allow consumers to make their best health plan decision and reduce their out of pocket costs. HealthPocket uses only objective data from government, non-profit, and private sources that carry no conditions that might restrict the site from serving as an unbiased resource. The founders of HealthPocket.com spent decades pioneering internet-based access to health insurance information and created HealthPocket to offer an online resource to positively change how people buy and use healthcare in the U.S. Learn more at www.HealthPocket.com.

SOURCE HealthPocket

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