Find Health Coverage Options With HealthCare.gov’s New Web Tool

Consumers and small employers now have a new web tool to search for health insurance coverage options in their geographic regions. This new tool is available through HealthCare.gov, a service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Insurance Finder “widget” allows anyone with a website or blog to embed a tool on their site and begin to search for public and private health coverage options.

The tool asks users two initial questions: “select a state” and “which best describes you.” The descriptions among which consumers may select include family/children, healthy individual, individual with medical condition, pregnant woman, person with disability, senior, young adult (under 26), and small employer/self employed.

After clicking on “next steps,” users are rerouted to a HealthCare.gov page to continue the insurance finder process. Based on the consumer’s answers, the coverage finder produces a menu of personalized potential coverage choices.

For example, a small employer that is interested in new coverage available in a specific state, will enter the applicable zip code to obtain a list of insurance carriers and health care plans available in that geographic area. With information for each plan offered each carrier may include links to services it provides, its provider network, and drug coverage under the plan. Price estimates for each option are scheduled to be posted on the site in October.

Here’s the link to the Insurance Finder widget.

And here’s comprehensive analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and additional information on up-to-date resources on health reform and other developments in employee benefits.