America’s Health Insurance Plans and National Consumers League Launch New Education Effort to Help Consumers Better Understand their Health Insurance – National Consumers League
October 18, 2016
MyHealthPlan.guide informs, educates, and engages consumers on health insurance options
Contact: David Merritt, America’s Health Insurance Plans, press@ahip.org, 202-778-3200
Cindy Hoang, National Consumers League, cindyh@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832
Washington, DC – America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) has partnered with the National Consumers League (NCL) to launch MyHealthPlan.guide, a comprehensive online guide that informs, educates, and engages consumers to better understand how health insurance works.
Health care can be complex and confusing. A recent state analysis found that 42 percent of consumers who bought their own insurance said they lacked a clear understanding of their health insurance plans. Other studies show that consumers are unaware of key factors they should consider before selecting a plan. And many consumers are unaware of the critical benefits their plan covers, including free preventive services.
MyHealthPlan.guide can help solve these challenges. From open season for employer-sponsored coverage to open enrollment in the Marketplaces and Medicare, this will be an important and timely resource for consumers who are buying insurance for the first time or who have questions about their existing plan. It also complements health plan sites that offer more information about specific products, plans, and benefits.
“Health insurance can be frustrating when you don’t have the right information to make the best decision for yourself or your family. That’s why we want to help inform, educate, and engage consumers to make sure they have the information and tools at their fingertips to make the best decisions about their healthcare,” said AHIP CEO Marilyn Tavenner.
The new online, interactive resource offers three portals for consumers — “Choosing a Health Plan,” “Living a Healthy Lifestyle” and “Using my Health Plan.” Each portal offers tailored, in-depth answers, information, and resources for their specific questions – but presented in a simple, straight-forward way. Consumers can also search MyHealthPlan.guide using keywords, look up terms using the site’s glossary and access a curated list of additional recommended resources and most popular searches.
The growing engagement of consumers in healthcare decision-making is a key part of the movement toward value-based healthcare delivery models and the industry’s ongoing investment in consumer-friendly online resources, personal health devices and smartphone applications.
“Consumers today are more engaged in healthcare decision-making than ever before—a trend that is predicted to grow for the foreseeable future. MyHealthPlan.guide aims to provide consumers with easy-to-access, straightforward information to determine the health insurance coverage that is right for them and how to best use it to meet their personal health needs,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg.
Early evidence has shown that such increased engagement is positive—consumers will make informed healthcare decisions when they are provided the right information in the right format. However, despite the growing opportunity for engagement, it can often be difficult for consumers to find all of the information they need in one place, leaving many confused and overwhelmed rather than empowered. MyHealthPlan.guide is an important step by health plans, working in partnership with consumer advocates, to begin to bridge the gap in information. AHIP and NCL will use feedback on the site’s user experience to update and expand on the site over time.
Access MyHealthPlan.guide and learn more about AHIP and NCL’s efforts to inform, educate, and engage consumers by going to https://myhealthplan.guide/
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About AHIP
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is the national trade association representing the health insurance community. AHIP’s members provide health and supplemental benefits through employer-sponsored coverage, the individual insurance market, and public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. AHIP advocates for solutions that expand access to affordable health care coverage to all Americans through a competitive marketplace that fosters choice, quality, and innovation.
About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
