The California health insurance market is always changing and now more than ever.  Some plans fall out of favor while others mark themselves as good values.  One thing is for certain the costs keep rising will only continue going forward into 2014 as we'll describe in a separate article.  For now, let's focus on current trends and plans that stand out as the best values on the California health insurance market.

First, let's tackle maternity coverage.  You can skip this paragraph if maternity is definitely not needed although that may all change July 1st, 2012.  We've lost most of our maternity plans on the market and out of the few remaining with the major California health carriers, there's really only one that make sense.   If maternity is even out there in the ether as a possiblity, look at the Shield Spectrum $5000 or $5500...whichever is less expensive as they're virtually identical in core benefits.  The other plans are generally much more expensive (sometimes double the cost) for comparable coverage.  Back to our July 1st milestone, the State legislature has passed a bill which will mandate maternity coverage on every California health plan.  We're not sure if this will apply to existing plans and/or grandfathered (under health reform statute) plans but we should have that info soon.  This will likely result in a 10-20% increase on premium on all those plans or big changes in the benefits (deductibles/max out of pocket) to offset what is a very expensive health care cost resulting from facility based care associated with maternity.  We'll keep you posted.  One note...if you become pregnant or your health changes on a plan without maternity, it can be impossible to change to a plan with maternity. 

For non-maternity plans, there are two main paths that are generally dictated by age.  If you are in your 50's and 60's, more of a catastrophic type plan makes sense.  For this, you would look at Anthem's Clear Protection plans ($1000, $3300, or $5000) deductible where the max out of pocket includes the deductible.  They do not cover brand name RX but the pricing is the best on the market and in those higher age-bands, the savings can more than offset going with a richer plan over a annualized period of time.  You can go richer (mainly to get brand RX and lower deductible) but it's hard to make the case.  Self-insure the difference and save the money on premium.

For younger people...essentially below 50's on average, look at either the Vital Shield Plus plans with Blue Shieid or the Smart Sense plans with Blue Cross.  They're very similar and both suite of plans have a generic RX only option or a comprehensive RX option.  Beyond that, you're choosing a deductible amount and of course a monthly premium amount.  For some ages/zip codes, Shield will be cheaper and for others, Cross will be cheaper.  These plans generally offer the best value to premium comparison on the market versus what Aetna, Health Net and other carriers offer.  Of course, were happy to walk through your situation or the plans in question to really understand how they work.

There are also HSA plans which add a tax benefit but also require separate (from the monthly premium) funding into the HSA account.  These use to be the best priced plans on the market but are not as competitive against the plans mentioned above.  If you plan on fully funding the account, we can help you compare whether that tips the scale.  All of the plans mentioned above are PPO plans because the HMO options have essentially priced themselves out of the market.  It's hard to make the case for any of those plans.  Feel free to run your free quote and we're more than happy to walk through how the plans work.  With the above info, you just reduced the market of dozens of plans down to a number that comfortably fits on one hand...maybe two. 

Other important concepts to help you understand your California health insurance quote are:

Question on the individual health insurance application
Individual health insurance underwriting
Enrolling for Individual health coverage in California
Download the health application or apply online
What can delay your individual health application
Options for people who do not qualify

To run your instant health insurance:

California Individual Family health insurance quote
California group health insurance quote