10:36 AM
HHS Opens Insurance Comparison Site
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has opened HealthCare.gov, a Web site comparing public and private health coverage options.
Visitors to the site are able to answer a few questions about themselves — including their location, age and health insurance status — leading ultimately to a page where they can view private plans or receive guidance to sign up for employer health insurance or government programs.
Currently, price information is not available for private plans, but HHS says that information will be available in results by October.
“[The site] was developed with significant consumer input and is remarkably easy to navigate,” HHS CTO Todd Park says in a statement. “This is despite the sheer volume of content it offers consumers: billions of health care choices through the insurance finder and more than 500 pages of new content.”
The site, which was prescribed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also includes information on staying healthy, as well as a feedback mechanism to measure which pages are useful to consumers.
Also going into effect today due to the health care law is coverage of pre-existing conditions and a 10% tax on the use of tanning salons.
Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio