94,500 Applications Started Since Oct. 1, 2013

[SHRED]

COVERED CALIFORNIA
CONSUMER INTEREST REMAINS STRONG
FOR HEALTH INSURANCE OFFERED THROUGH
COVERED CALIFORNIA MARKETPLACE
94,500 Applications Started Since Oct. 1, 2013

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California™ announced continued strong consumer
interest in the agency’s health insurance marketplace and Medi-Cal, with more than
600,000 unique visits to its website and more than 45,000 calls to its Service Center during
the week ending Oct. 12.

Since open enrollment began Oct. 1, consumers have been shopping and comparing
among 12 insurers offering health care coverage through Covered California, where
consumers also can determine if they are eligible to enroll, eligible for subsidies or eligible
for Medi-Cal.
For the first two weeks of open enrollment, more than 1.5 million unique visits were made to
http://www.CoveredCA.com.

The Service Center has handled more than 100,000 calls during the
same period. From Oct. 1 through Oct. 12, more than approximately 94,500 applications
were started.

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I'm on Covered California email list.
Thought you all might like to see this.

[PasadenaTrudy]

1. I applied

and I'm getting ready to buy. I'm still uncertain what to do. I have a blue shield PPO, that will be terminated at end of yr and replaced with a new plan. The plan looks the same as their Platinum plan on the CoveredCA site, so I'm not sure if I should just go with it or buy the ACA one. Would the ACA one offer better protection from rate hikes? Still not sure of the difference. I'm not even sure who to call to ask advice, CoveredCA or blue shield?

[pinto]

2. ACA 80/20 Rule

80/20 Rule

The 80/20 Rule generally requires insurance companies to spend at least 80% of the money they take in on premiums on your health care and quality improvement activities instead of administrative, overhead, and marketing costs.

The 80/20 rule is sometimes known as Medical Loss Ratio, or MLR. If an insurance company uses 80 cents out of every premium dollar to pay for your medical claims and activities that improve the quality of care, the company has a Medical Loss Ratio of 80%.

Insurance companies selling to large groups (usually more than 50 employees) must spend at least 85% of premiums on care and quality improvement.

If your insurance company doesn’t meet these requirements, you’ll get a rebate from your premiums.

<much more at>
https://www.healthcare.gov/how-does-the-health-care-law-protect-me/#part=10