The effort to assemble a force of an estimated 21,000 individuals to assist millions of Californians without health insurance to enroll through Covered California is nothing short of building a small army.
Beyond what some folks will classify as unnecessary government meddling in the market place by mandating the termination of some health insurance plans, the model contract reads like a consumer advocate manifesto.
It’s not often that you get to ask questions of a director whose organization will soon have over half a billion in annual revenue. Peter Lee, director of Covered California and arguably the largest “start up” in California’s history, answered question from anyone about the new health insurance market under the state exchange.
While having a fully functional small business Covered California portal is important, it still remains to be seen how many of the estimated 375,000 small businesses in California will actually participate to set up health insurance plans for employees.
The Covered California Milliman study suggests that there might be as much as a 15% difference from the statewide average health insurance rate depending on a person’s location.
California’s developing health insurance exchange, Covered California, presented two webinars recently to review the streamline application process and budding Assister Program to help residents sign up for health insurance through the new state exchange.
With the release of the Covered California Standard Benefit Plans and the Cost Estimator on the website, health insurance plans through California’s health insurance exchange may prove to be unaffordable for what consumers expect.
While the whole database of different health insurance plans to be offered has yet to be integrated into the site, the fact that Covered California has come out of the closet eight months before show time is great.