Covered California Selects Western Health Advantage

Covered California, the state’s Health Benefit Exchange Marketplace, announced today that Western Health Advantage is one of the health plans to be offered in the new individual health coverage marketplace. Individuals can begin to shop for Western Health Advantage in October, with coverage starting January 2014. Covered California will provide California residents and small businesses with online tools to compare health plans and enroll in the product that best suits their needs.

Western Health Advantage will offer the plan’s full network of trusted health providers in both Region 2 (Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano) and Region 3 (Yolo, Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado).

“We are proud to partner with Covered California for this historic moment in health care reform,” said Western Health Advantage President and CEO Garry Maisel. “We believe our business model of emphasizing choice and flexibility, value and customer service will make us an attractive choice for Covered California enrollees.” Western Health Advantage holds an “excellent” accreditation, the best ranking awarded, from the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) and consistently earns high customer service ratings from the California Office of the Patient Advocate.

Covered California will announce the slate of health plans available in the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) in June.  WHA is bidding to be an option in the SHOP marketplace as well.

Maisel is a frequent panelist and presenter on the impacts of health care reform on small business and individuals in California and is available to respond to media inquiries and questions about today’s announcement.

Covered California is charged with creating a new insurance marketplace in which individuals and small businesses can get access to health insurance, starting in 2014.  For more information on Covered California, please visit www.CoveredCA.com.