ACA Exchange Quotes... Prediction?

The more I look at the Colorado exchange site, the more issues I see. It's nice they got the site working on time (though it was very slow for me yesterday morning), but I find the interface very clunky and the detailed plan descriptions hard to find or nonexistent. Plus while I see the full cost of the plans, I don't see a way to find your actual cost if you qualify for a subsidy. I'll grant you it's possible some of this information is there but I haven't figured out how to find it, though.

The most disturbing thing I've noticed is the Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum definitions seem very lax and it's not at all obvious.

For example, a Gold plan in general should have 20% copays (Silver 30%) from my understanding. When I listed the Gold plans (and later the Silver) by checking the Gold filter, I was surprised to see the lowest cost PPO plan was from a place called Colorado HealthOp. In my past searches, Rocky Mountain Health was the lowest cost PPO, so I was surprised to see this company I've never heard of before beat out non-profit Rocky Mountain Health.

But when I looked at the details, I can see why HealthOP was cheaper. Just about every copay was 35% (and 40% for their Silver), while Rocky Mountain was at 20% (30% Silver) as expected. How is this possibly called a Gold plan? I went to their web site (couldn't click to get there directly) and it was very sparse. It turns out they are a co-op (which sounds nice, but don't co-ops usually have an annual fee?) and the company started just one year ago. I couldn't find any brochures or details about their plans. Maybe you have to create an account and login, I don't know? But all other health insurance sites I've visited tell you this stuff. Would anybody sign up for this company if they knew this? And it's not very easy to find out at the Colorado exchange web site.

If you are eligible for a subsidy, I can't see a way to find what your policy will actually cost. They do have a cost calculator based on the Kaiser calculator which is several years old. They also offer a way to ask you more specific questions, but warn this is just an estimate and they won't save your results. I tried both methods with a hypothetical case and got results that were not even close to each other. So how do you buy a policy if you don't know what it will actually cost? Again, maybe I missed something, but at least I tried.

So far as the clunky interface goes, they use filters to select policies. If I have all filter boxes unchecked, I only see one page of 10 policies (I'm using Park county, if it matters). If I have all filter boxes checked, I also only see one page of 10 policies. If I just check one box or a few, I start to see a lot more policies. How can I be confident that I'm seeing all the policies?

pineinthegrass wrote: The more I look at the Colorado exchange site, the more issues I see. It's nice they got the site working on time (though it was very slow for me yesterday morning), but I find the interface very clunky and the detailed plan descriptions hard to find or nonexistent. Plus while I see the full cost of the plans, I don't see a way to find your actual cost if you qualify for a subsidy. I'll grant you it's possible some of this information is there but I haven't figured out how to find it, though.

The most disturbing thing I've noticed is the Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum definitions seem very lax and it's not at all obvious.

For example, a Gold plan in general should have 20% copays (Silver 30%) from my understanding. When I listed the Gold plans (and later the Silver) by checking the Gold filter, I was surprised to see the lowest cost PPO plan was from a place called Colorado HealthOp. In my past searches, Rocky Mountain Health was the lowest cost PPO, so I was surprised to see this company I've never heard of before beat out non-profit Rocky Mountain Health.

But when I looked at the details, I can see why HealthOP was cheaper. Just about every copay was 35% (and 40% for their Silver), while Rocky Mountain was at 20% (30% Silver) as expected. How is this possibly called a Gold plan? I went to their web site (couldn't click to get there directly) and it was very sparse. It turns out they are a co-op (which sounds nice, but don't co-ops usually have an annual fee?) and the company started just one year ago. I couldn't find any brochures or details about their plans. Maybe you have to create an account and login, I don't know? But all other health insurance sites I've visited tell you this stuff. Would anybody sign up for this company if they knew this? And it's not very easy to find out at the Colorado exchange web site.

If you are eligible for a subsidy, I can't see a way to find what your policy will actually cost. They do have a cost calculator based on the Kaiser calculator which is several years old. They also offer a way to ask you more specific questions, but warn this is just an estimate and they won't save your results. I tried both methods with a hypothetical case and got results that were not even close to each other. So how do you buy a policy if you don't know what it will actually cost? Again, maybe I missed something, but at least I tried.

So far as the clunky interface goes, they use filters to select policies. If I have all filter boxes unchecked, I only see one page of 10 policies (I'm using Park county, if it matters). If I have all filter boxes checked, I also only see one page of 10 policies. If I just check one box or a few, I start to see a lot more policies. How can I be confident that I'm seeing all the policies?

The differences between the Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels are the levels of personal responsibility. For example, the Silver level plans will have a 30% personal responsibility based on a mix of copays, deductibles and coinsurance. You can have a plan with a higher deductible but no copays and a lower coinsurance, or one with a lower deductible, high copays and higher coinsurance. The plans do not have to be 30% across the board but are intended that the individual have some skin (30% for Silver in the game based on the level of plan that they choose. There is an actuarial based number that is used to arrive at how the blend works, but I don't have that number in front of me. For example purposes only,say that number is $10,000 based on actuarial numbers for the average individual annually for medical care. Then for a Silver plan, the plans must try for the individual to be personally responsible for $3000 of that through a combination of deductibles, copays and coinsurance. I think the actual actuarial number is closer to $18,000 but not sure.

I'm aware of that, and that's why I said the Gold and Siver plans should have 20% and 30% copays "in general".

But these plans were pretty close so far as deductibles and max out of pocket goes.

For Gold, Colorado HealthOP has a $1000 deductible and $3750 max out of pocket. Rocky Mountain has a $500 deductible and $4000 out of pocket.

For Silver, HealthOP has a $2600/$6000 plan while Rocky Mountain has a $3000/$6350 plan. So here you'd think HealthOP is a bit better if you didn't know about the copay.

Pretty close plans from what you see on the main page, but when you list the details HealthOP charges a 35%/40% copay (Gold/Silver) for most services (not all, but the vast majority) while Rocky Mountain just charges 20%/30%. That's a pretty huge difference, and you won't know it unless you spend more time going through the menus.

Anyway, I copied my previous post and sent it as a comment to the Colorado exchange. If they get back to me, I'll post their reply here.

Shopping for health insurance has always been tedious, especially when you had to go from one web site to another or make numerous phone calls, and deal with underwriting.

pineinthegrass wrote: The more I look at the Colorado exchange site, the more issues I see. It's nice they got the site working on time (though it was very slow for me yesterday morning), but I find the interface very clunky and the detailed plan descriptions hard to find or nonexistent. Plus while I see the full cost of the plans...

I noticed the same thing, clunky and slow.

What is actually hilarious is reading the dim wit MSM news anchors praising it along with the politicians how "now you can shop for health insurance like on amazon or expedia" and compare plans side-by-side. Sigh...

DO THESE PEOPLE F..KING REALIZE THAT EHEALTHINSURANCE.COM HAS BEEN AROUND FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS AND ALREADY DID EXACTLY THAT. End of rant.

These people talk like they just re-invented sliced bread. Whatever, like Forest Gump says, one less thing to worry about.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the actuarial numbers, they are useless for consumers and a poor way to design "insurance" plans that these ACA plans are NOT. The actuarial numbers are only useful for the insurance companies for overall averages.

edit- I think you need to login and give away all your personal info to the IRS HHS FBI NSA Homeland Security, Whitehouse, and Hackers before you can see prices and subsidies.

LOL wrote:

pineinthegrass wrote: The more I look at the Colorado exchange site, the more issues I see. It's nice they got the site working on time (though it was very slow for me yesterday morning), but I find the interface very clunky and the detailed plan descriptions hard to find or nonexistent. Plus while I see the full cost of the plans...

I noticed the same thing, clunky and slow.

What is actually hilarious is reading the dim wit MSM news anchors praising it along with the politicians how "now you can shop for health insurance like on amazon or expedia" and compare plans side-by-side. Sigh...

DO THESE PEOPLE F..KING REALIZE THAT EHEALTHINSURANCE.COM HAS BEEN AROUND FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS AND ALREADY DID EXACTLY THAT. End of rant.

These people talk like they just re-invented sliced bread. Whatever, like Forest Gump says, one less thing to worry about.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the actuarial numbers, they are useless for consumers and a poor way to design "insurance" plans that these ACA plans are NOT. The actuarial numbers are only useful for the insurance companies for overall averages.

edit- I think you need to login and give away all your personal info to the IRS HHS FBI NSA Homeland Security, Whitehouse, and Hackers before you can see prices and subsidies.

Absolutely agree with everything you said here. And how long will it be before some hacking scumbags come up with fake sites and gather SS numbers, birthdates, etc from unsuspecting people looking for that great health care deal? This could wind up being one of the biggest identity theft problems this country has ever seen. Imagine all the people too helpless to find a way to get an ID, these are the same people who will get suckered.

And we have to remember that there is no possible way insurance companies can know how many pre-existing conditions theyre going to be on the hook for. As the high risk policies stack up, the premium increases will later follow. This is like trying to predict climate change for the next decade.

Yeah, maybe the problem is I haven't created an account and logged in? But why should I have to create an account just to get a simple frick'in premium? That's another time consuming thing to add, not to mention a loss of privacy. This was not necessary at other health insurance companies I've dealt with.

When I went to this new Colorado HealthOP site, I was actually willing to give them my email address. But then they insisted on my phone number too. Why? All I wanted to know was the details of the plans they offer. With the lack of info they offer at the site, and asking for my phone number, it looks like it's a scam.

I didn't create an account at the Colorado exchange either. Why do they need more info about me (I gave them the basics they'd need; age, tobacco, county, etc)? Just tell me the plans and I'll be glad to sign in if I find something I like and need. Without logging in, it still appears they show the plans, but I already explained how hard it is to find them with all the filters they have, plus it's very time consuming to dig into the details.

FredHayek wrote:

Big Dougy wrote:

archer wrote: Why wouldn't they be accurate.....you get a quote, you sign up at that price....for the year that is your premium.....what isn't accurate about that?

:rofllol The fact that prices are out and are lower... won't stop these guys from speculating Archer.. Just like- The rest of the civilised world, hawaii and Mass. has government healthcare, and it works great, but it will be the end of the world if have it nationwide....

And they actually think they are influencing people, and that people respect thier opinions.. lol

"Never mind the facts, here's what I think!"

#Sheeple

What VL forgot to tell you is that Romneycare cost the state much much more than predicted.

Never mind the fact-free, source-free garbage that Fred posts, (since he never posts any sources), but what he forgot to tell you is that Romneycare SAVED THE STATE LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY.. .

One thing consistent about Fred's posts: They're virtually all wrong; they're virtually ALL UNSOURCED, and FACT-FREE, and most of the time they're nothing more than "They did it too."

They want you to create an account so they can assault you with propaganda at will... maybe use that information for future elections as well.

You ever try to sign up for insurance without giving them any personal information? When I last shopped for insurance, on the einsurance web site I couldn't get any info without creating an account, and yeah, a decade later I still get the occasional e-mail from them. If you don't like ecommerce try the phone.