California Exchange Platform – People Shunning Online Marketplace for Other Alternatives

With California exchange platform, Covered California, facing multitude of problems and unprecedented load, people are not sure where to buy insurance from. Amid all this confusion, there is another glaring problem troubling everyone – the addition of people with canceled health policies into the uninsured pool, translating to more stress on an already broken system. In such a scenario, people are relying on some unconventional methods, such as grocery malls, for getting their health insurance.

The biggest hope for these people is the existence of insurance providers which are not endorsing health exchange connectivity at this moment. Health insurance firms like Aetna and Cigna are not participating in the exchange in California, and giving enough options to individuals to purchase health insurance from. These health insurance companies are staying in the market and offering some healthcare plans that are not compliant with ACA. People who are willing to buy this health insurance can do so before end of December, provided they renew the plan next year and turn it into a compliant health insurance plan.

The biggest advantage for those plans which are not undergoing health exchange integration is that they have a windfall of customers waiting to grab plans as soon as possible, to avoid any penalties on them once the health insurance mandate kicks in. The demand is such that several health plans are utilizing unconventional methods to deliver health insurance to people. For instance, Aetna is offering a health plan to Costco members till mid of December which is going to be useful for people whose health insurance has been recently canceled. Cigna is another provider offering the same plans off the exchange platform.

Other than a poorly performing exchange integration platform, there are several other reasons which are preventing people from purchasing health insurance off the marketplaces. One of the big reasons is the associated cost, especially for people whose plans have been recently canceled. For instance, people getting coverage from Health Net at $375 per month and a $4,000 deductible, are now being forced to pay somewhere between $650-$750 for a bronze level plan. On the other hand, the same person can get a better coverage from plans which are not available on the exchange platform at slightly higher premiums, but with better coverage and annual wellness propositions. In such a scenario, it is natural for people to prefer the plans which are available off the exchange.

However, there is a downside to all the cost savings and benefits being portrayed through the plans off the exchange integration platform. Since there is no regulatory authority to control the costs of these health plans, it is expected that their costs might increase in 2014. Therefore, it would be wise for people to do some planning before jumping onto the wagon. A good way to see this would be to analyze if you are eligible for subsidies, and in case you are, purchase insurance off exchange integration platform for availing these subsidies.

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