To offer a different perspective... I'm younger than you, and was shopping for individual insurance.
In my case, the hardest part was trying to compare plans from the companies in my area. All of them have slightly different ways of making it profitable for them. One could have Rx copays, but a special deductible for ER and urgent care visits. Another company may have only Rx reimbursement and office visit copays. So on and so forth. I actually had a spreadsheet with about a dozen columns to try to figure out, based on how I've used healthcare in the last few years, what plan is likely to be best for me.
Anything to simplify it would be great.
Moreover, the companies I've worked with on this, Blue Cross of Florida and United Healthcare (GoldenRule), in my own experience, the rates they quoted me online after filling out their survey were correct.
Healthcare costs and complexity surely go up as we all get older, so that, plus difference in state laws, probably explain the differences in value we see in this app.
Yeah, I'm currently insured by United and was previously insured by Blue Cross.
I think your point is correct that the site is a (now cliched?) "leaky abstraction." But the good news is that it works for at least some segment of the market (those like myself).
I was 25 when I did the Blue Cross app and 27 when I did United.
This is a cool idea, and a good first start implementation. It's also the basis of the "Health Insurance Exchanges" that are due to be set up by the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a Obamacare in the pejorative).
Starting in 2014 individuals can buy insurance directly in an Affordable Insurance Exchange. An Exchange is intended to be a transparent and competitive insurance marketplace where individuals and small businesses can directly buy qualified health benefit plans.
Individual states are free to set up exchanges prior to the mandatory deadline, but with politics being what they are, that's not a guarantee of swift action. The details on implementation will be promulgated by Health and Human Services, most likely via the CFR and Federal Register, so we don't yet know how it will shake out in detail. But there's an overview PR-style here:
http://www.healthcare.gov/news/blog/health_insurance_exchang...
In my case, the hardest part was trying to compare plans from the companies in my area. All of them have slightly different ways of making it profitable for them. One could have Rx copays, but a special deductible for ER and urgent care visits. Another company may have only Rx reimbursement and office visit copays. So on and so forth. I actually had a spreadsheet with about a dozen columns to try to figure out, based on how I've used healthcare in the last few years, what plan is likely to be best for me.
Anything to simplify it would be great.
Moreover, the companies I've worked with on this, Blue Cross of Florida and United Healthcare (GoldenRule), in my own experience, the rates they quoted me online after filling out their survey were correct.
Healthcare costs and complexity surely go up as we all get older, so that, plus difference in state laws, probably explain the differences in value we see in this app.