Federal employees, retirees and their family members have a new online healthcare site where they can do comparison shopping for health coverage and view ratings on care providers.
PlanSmartChoice.com aims to be a one-stop online shop for healthcare information. Created through a partnership between Asparity Decision Solutions and HealthGrades, a major healthcare ratings organization, the site is currently free to all federal employees during the “open season” when they can make changes to their health care coverage.
Evaluations and profiles on thousands of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians are assembled by HealthGrades and posted on PlanSmartChoice.com.
“Federal employees win by having all of this info at their fingertips,” said Colleen M. Murphy, Asparity’s president and CEO.
Prior to the HealthGrades sponsorship, PlanSmartChoice.com’s focus was on helping federal employees determine which health coverage would best meet their needs by allowing them to compare dental, medical and vision options and to estimate their total health care costs. It was available to employees participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), which covers over four million federal employees, retirees, and family members.
The addition of the HealthGrades ratings makes the site even better suited to feds looking to make healthcare decisions based on the quality and cost of care.
“As federal employees select health plans, one of the first questions they have is whether the doctor or hospital of their choice is part of their health plan,” said David Hicks, Executive Vice President of HealthGrades, which has provided ratings and profiles since 1999.
The joining of these two online health care sources comes just in time for open season, which began November 10th. Open season occurs over a five-week period and is the only time of year that federal employees can make health insurance benefit changes without experiencing interrupted or loss coverage. Federal agencies and insurance companies spend considerable effort publicizing the importance of this window for selecting care.
Many of the insurance giants such as Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and HealthAmerica or smaller ones like Unicare, GEHA and Cigna make their annual pilgrimage to federal agencies for the open season insurance fairs. Employees stop by the insurance tables to pick up pamphlets, brochures, forms and marketing gifts while peppering the insurance reps with questions about their company’s health care polices and coverage. Last year at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building which houses the Federal Judicial Center and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, over thirty insurance companies were in attendance to meet with interested employees.
After being inundated with health insurance materials during open season, employees have to begin the hard work of selecting the best health benefit plan to see which one best suit their budget and coverage needs. The problem that many employees experience during this process is not being readily able to see the coverage similarities and differences without having to wade through each insurance company’s website pages or plod their way through a ton of marketing material. Some employees find this overwhelming, and retain their current health insurance even when they’re dissatisfied with their coverage.
PlanSmartChoice.com is hoping that their joint venture with Healthgrades will provide federal employees with the tools to not only evaluate the various health care plans, but also view ratings info on hospitals and physicians without having to visit several websites.
Once open season concludes, the HealthGrades info at PlanSmartChoice.com will not be entirely free of charge to federal employees. Most information on a physician’s history, such as malpractice suits and disciplinary actions, can only be accessed by paying a $7.95 report fee per physician. Also, an in-depth hospital report that will cost $17.95.