One of the biggest criticisms of healthcare.gov was that consumers had to create an account before they could even聽look to see聽what health plans are available in their area and what the premiums are. The website has blocked many users from establishing an account since its Oct. 1 launch, leaving most shoppers unable to learn what is being offered,聽let alone enroll.
The new online tool allows users to聽find out聽the average monthly premium by different health plan and by coverage tier鈥攂ronze, silver, gold and platimun鈥攚ith higher metal tiers offering lower out-of-pocket expenses in exchange for more expensive premiums.
The prices do not take into account the subsidies聽people may be eligible for based on their income, or specific price points related to age. The site offers only two age breakdowns –younger than 50 or older than 50. Consumers also can’t get any information on聽a plan’s聽co-pays, deductibles and other benefit information.
But at least聽they can access the information without getting an error message —聽or being told to try again.
“We listened to your requests and聽now have high-level information about plans and rates in your community offered through HealthCare.gov,” was the message on the exchange’s Facebook page Thursday.
The premium data have been available in spreadsheet form since Oct.1. That site offers more categories for browsing,聽but the new shopping tool makes it much easier to search by county, age group and type of plan.
Most state exchanges, including Connecticut and Colorado,聽have offered a shopping feature on their websites so users could compare plans without having to answer dozens of questions first.
The federal site does include this caveat: “All health plans and stand-alone dental plans may not be available at this time, due to technical issues. We’ll update this information as soon as it’s available.”
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