HoneyInsured uses research to put consumers’ health care dollars to work

HoneyInsured uses research to put consumers’ health care dollars to work

Health care broker checks Affordable Care Act coverage options for affordability.

Finding that right health insurance plan can be a befuddling experience. Comparing different offerings, deductibles, out-of-pocket costs and other factors can leave consumers wondering if they are getting the best health care plan for their dollar.

Now a new startup is giving consumers an easy way to assess different health plans and make the right choice for their situation, according to The Atlantic. The company, HoneyInsured, was founded by two Harvard math students based on their research on health care plans offered under the healthcare marketplaces initiated under the Affordable Care Act, and can currently be used by people looking for health care plans in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Missouri.

As undergraduates, the Harvard math students, Grace Gee and Eugene Wang published research on health plans offered under Obama care in 34 states. Their report, published in the journal Technology Science and later used in Congressional testimony, exposed a surprising trend in the way insurance companies were adopting their plans to the marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act.

Their study found that larger insurance companies were dramatically raising their prices, without increasing benefits to consumers. In every state they looked at, premiums by large insurers had been increased by more than 75 percent compared to smaller companies.

Gee and Wang launched HoneyInsured this month to help consumers address this problem. There are many other web insurance brokers that consumers can use to find a new health plan. Most of them simplify the government’s Healthcare.gov site so consumers can more easily navigate the sometimes complex federal site.

But HoneyInsured is different in that in addition to buying a plan, the site recommends the best plan for consumers, based on their needs and at the best price. The recommendations are based on the pair’s research, and intend to help consumers camparison shop, to insure that they are getting a fair deal.

The site allows users to make comparisons based on potential out-of-pocket expenses, or by prescription drug costs, in addition to the overall cost of the plans. It displays a two-dimensional graph that plots available health care plans by cost versus deductible, so consumers can decide which plan they prefer.

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