The Health Insurance Marketplace functions kind of like an online health insurance exchange, giving individuals and small businesses the opportunity to evaluate health insurance and make an informed decision about what to buy. Gone are the days of shopping around to multiple providers for health insurance quotes, being restricted to a single, cost-prohibitive plan, or being denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition. The Health Insurance Marketplace is your one-stop shop to find your new health care plan.
What Does the Health Insurance Marketplace Do?
The Health Insurance Marketplace is an online shopping site where individuals and small businesses can compare and buy health insurance. If your employer doesn’t offer insurance, you can use the Health Insurance Marketplace to browse plans and select your insurance. Using the Health Insurance Marketplace, you can:
- Review and compare health care plans
- Get health insurance quotes and compare prices
- Get an explanation of your health insurance premium
- Compare benefits and coverage options of various health insurance plans
One of the promises of the Affordable Care Act is to make health insurance more transparent for consumers. To that end, the Health Insurance Marketplace is positioning itself as an online health insurance exchange where you can read about various plans in easy-to-understand language, find out more about price breaks, compare health insurance quotes and select the right policy for you and your family.
The Health Insurance Marketplace is also the place for small businesses to find information and shop for insurance for employees. With the aid of this valuable online tool, small businesses can set a budget for health care, evaluate premiums, co-pays and deductibles, and decide which plan to offer employees.
Every state has its own Health Insurance Marketplace, and its operation is determined by the state. Every state will have a Marketplace by the time of Open Enrollment in October 2013.
