The Obama administration released yesterday Healthcare.gov, a website designed to show comprehensive list of all available public and private health-insurance plans across the nation.The new tool is part of the Affordable Care Act and, according to the site, is designed to “help you take control of your health care – by putting the power of information at your fingertips.” It does so by displaying information about patient rights, navigation of the health insurance marketplace and what the Affordable Care Act will mean to the consumer.
Once users answer a series of questions, such as age, location, employment status and payment ability, a personalized list of coverage options in both private and federal programs is given. The site also shows how the options will potentially change as the healthcare reform laws begin to take effect.
The easy-to-navigate layout offers numerous useful options. Users can click “Your Health Care, Explained,” which will bring them to an organized page full of different situations that may pertain to the individual.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explained to The Washington Post her excitement about the new platform.
“This is an incredibly impressive consumer tool,” she said. “This information can give folks choices that they just didn’t have any idea they had available to them.”
Sebelius, along with HHS Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, will introduce the site today to answer questions from the media at a conference in Washington, D.C.
