The Best Health Insurance Plans

Wednesday, March 22nd

2023 Health Insurance Plan Reviews

Health Markets

• More than 6 million policy enrollments since 2010
• Available to residents of all 50 states and DC
• Policies available from 200+ carriers
• Get a policy online, over the phone, or with an in-person agent
• Available insurance types include Medicare, Short-Term, ACA, Dental, Vision, and Supplemental
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• Thousands of five-star ratings
• Founded in 1984

Health Markets should be your partner if you need a resource to "help simplify the complexities of the American health care system" . Founded in 1984 and headquartered in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, this site should be the first place you visit when you're shopping for health insurance.

In-person help is available

You've got tons of options if you'd like to use Health Markets to get coverage. They've got over 3000 in-person agents you can work with face-to-face: just click on "talk to a licensed insurance agent and enter your zip code, and you'll see a list of agent profiles near you. You can also call the number at the top of the site and ask any questions you may have about health insurance: choosing the right policy, which options are available in your state, or anything else that comes to mind.

Easy-to-use website

But, most people choose to click "Find my plan" and search directly for policies in their area. Since the majority of visitors to the Health Markets site are shopping for ACA Health Insurance, we'll use that as our jumping-off point as well. Health Markets has a proprietary algorithm called the FitScore that can help you find the plan that's the best match for your needs; you can either opt to use that or click on "just show me quotes" , but we recommend using the tool to save you time and make it easier to get a suitable health insurance plan. Either route asks for your phone number and email, so why not get a tailored recommendation from the start?

Narrow down the choices with filters

After you provide those details, along with the answers to the usual questions like "are you a tobacco user" and "what's your annual household income" , you'll be matched with all of the plans in your area that Health Markets thinks are a match. But it gives you so much more to help you narrow down the options - and you'll want to do that if you get as many matches (200+) as our test case did (a 25-year-old male in Florida, non-tobacco user, household of one and income of $35k). Here are all of the ways you can sort through your health insurance plan choices:

• Doctor/Provider, if you've got specific physicians you want to keep seeing in-network
• Prescription Drugs, if you want to make sure something you're taking will be covered and how much you'll pay out of pocket
• Company (in our test area, there were nine different insurers to choose from)
• Network Type, if you have a preference between EPO, HMO, and so on
• Coverage Level, usually described as metals (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum)
• Monthly Premium
• Deductible
• Max Out-of-Pocket
• Office Visit/Copay
• Coinsurance
• HSA Eligible
• Apply Online, if you prefer plans that let you do it all without a phone call or in-person appointment

You then can choose up to three plans to compare, and as you browse plans you can mark any of them as your favorites to view again later.

Short-term plans on offer too

Health Markets also has a short-term coverage tab. If you've ever lost health insurance and seen how exorbitant the premiums are for COBRA (meaning that you're paying your premium plus what your employer had been covering for you), you'll be relieved to know that these types of plans exist. There were very affordable options for 6- and 12-month coverage; our test subject would pay anywhere from $48 to $177 per month, depending on the selected plan.

Enroll online or over the phone

From there, what happens depends on the insurer you've selected. Some require you to speak with an agent, while others allow you to enroll online with no need for a phone call. Either way, Health Markets makes it about as easy as it ever gets and you can reach a licensed agent 24/7 if you need help.

Sterling reputation

Out of all of the health insurance sites we evaluated, Health Markets has the absolute best reputation. They're "A+" rated and accredited by the Better Business Bureau, with only four complaints filed there in the year leading up to this review. And, speaking of reviews, 92% of clients leaving an evaluation for Health Markets give the service a perfect five stars: almost 3000 5-star ratings on one third-party site alone.

Praiseworthy

Many people leave praise for specific agents who went the extra mile to get them the right policy - or who advised them to stay with their current coverage because it was the best available health insurance for their needs. Clients never get the impression that they're being pushed into a policy that will line the pockets of Health Markets' agents, but rather that they're being offered every available type of health insurance - while having access to knowledgeable, unbiased experts who can offer helpful information if needed.

Top choice for finding health insurance

Buying health insurance can feel scary but it doesn't have to - not when you have a resource like Health Markets at the ready. Whether you feel better working with an agent in person or on the phone, or you'd rather take a DIY approach and do it all online in the middle of the night, you're covered here - literally. You'll get the choice of many different healthcare plans, and enrollment is a breeze. We're pleased to keep Health Markets at the top of our list among health insurance websites.

Health Insurance.org

• Created in 1994 as an in-depth source of information about health insurance
• Insurance quote partner is "A+" rated by the BBB
• Quote system is straightforward and easy to use
• Get multiple quotes without having to enter contact info first
• Help available via toll-free number
• State guides available for up-to-date information on ACA-compliant plans, Medicaid, short-term regulations and plan availability

Health Insurance.org is an excellent resource for getting educated on the most current state of health insurance coverage - and for finding the right coverage. The site was started back in 1994 as an objective, independent platform to help consumers understand the ins and outs of the industry. Looking for lower premiums? Confused about open enrollment? Need to calculate your Obamacare subsidy? You'll find all of that and more right on the main page.

Get quotes with no personal information needed

Start by entering your zip code in the box under "Get your free quote now" . You'll see that it will redirect you to a quote platform (INSXCloud) on behalf of IHC Specialty Benefits, and that you'll be assigned an agent at the top of the page. From there, you'll answer the standard questions about your birthdate, sex, tobacco use, annual household income and household size, and so forth. We like that prospective customers aren't required to enter any contact information to access their health insurance quotes.

Great interface as you browse plans

We also noticed that we got the same 200+ plan matches offered through other platforms, though those were routed through Health Sherpa instead of INSXCloud. It's good proof that Health Insurance.org is connecting you with a reputable method of getting coverage. This platform feels easier to use: the layout of the plans is clearer to understand at a glance, more details are available at a click, and you can quickly select several plans to compare. We also like being shown exactly what the premium is before and after any applicable subsidies.

No mysteries about what's needed

Once you've selected a plan, you can enroll directly through the site. You'll get a helpful popup screen that tells you exactly what to expect with each step, like creating an account and verifying your identity, and which information and documents you should have handy (such as verification of citizenship or loss of qualifying coverage).

Good reputation all around

Since Health Insurance.org redirects to INSXCloud for the actual quoting process, we were glad to see that the company has been around for over 10 years and has an "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau. - and no complaints filed there. That could also be due to the fact that the average consumer wouldn't know that INSXCloud has anything to do with their health insurance process. The site is operated on behalf of IHC Specialty Benefits, a licensed insurance agency in Minnesota that has been in business for almost 40 years and also has an "A+" rating from the BBB, as well as accreditation. All great signs.

A top pick for getting health insurance

Although you won't be staying on the Health Insurance.org site for long if you decide to go through the quote process, it's a solid jumping-off point for getting educated on your coverage options and getting a plan you like. At every step of the way, you're linked with reputable partners who can answer your questions and connect you with the right policy for your needs. This is one of our favorite resources for learning about and obtaining health insurance.

Healthcare Marketplace

• More than 18 million people have shopped for health insurance here
• Easy-to-use online platform
• Get recommendations or browse all plans
• Health insurance from several different insurers
• Get quotes online or from a licensed agent via toll-free number
• "A+" rated by the BBB

You should be aware from the start that Healthcare Marketplace is not the same thing as the federal marketplace for health insurance. While this service can indeed help you get subsidized coverage that satisfies the ACA minimum requirements, Healthcare Marketplace is a site offered by privately-owned Health Network Group and not by the government.

18M+ people have used this site

Now that we've got that cleared up, let's talk about what you can do with the Healthcare Marketplace service. After all, more than 18 million people have used it to shop for affordable coverage. You can get started either by calling the toll-free number on the site to speak with a licensed agent or by clicking on the Get Your Quote button.

See quotes with no personal data needed

Let's assume you decide to check out your options online. The quote button will take you to an initial quote page showing plan choices in your area (seeming to detect our location from our browser). You can change the settings if needed: zip code, household income and size, who needs coverage, and so forth. If your parameters line up with what's needed to qualify for a tax credit (sometimes referred to as a subsidy), you'll see that at the bottom of the page.

Terrific interface

The interface here is gorgeous, if that's not too strong a word. Featured at the top, you'll find Healthcare Marketplace's recommendations for the lowest price plan, the plan with the highest coverage, and the one representing extra savings. Below that, you'll see all of the possible options for the details entered as a profile. You can also choose to sort them by network, insurer, premium cost, and so on.

Vast array of health insurance choices

For our test case of a 25-year-old male in Florida, Healthcare Marketplace offered hundreds of matching health insurance plans. Available insurers included most of the ones we saw elsewhere (Ambetter, Cigna, Blue Cross, United Healthcare, and Oscar), and a few that we hadn't seen before, like Aetna CVS and AvMed. We found lower premiums here than anywhere else we looked, with a basic Oscar plan coming in at just $4.91/month after the subsidy was applied, and several plans from Oscar and Ambetter for under $30/month.

Compare Plans would be nice

The only feature missing here that would be really helpful is a "compare plans" button; without it, you're left scrolling through all of the quotes and hoping you can keep track of which ones stand out. Of course, you can always focus on the three recommended plans and spare yourself the hassle, or call Healthcare Marketplace's toll-free number to get the help of an agent as you sort through the options.

You'll always have to finish via phone

You're going to wind up speaking with an agent either way, because when you go to enroll in a particular health insurance plan, the final step tells you that "an enrollment specialist will be calling you shortly to assist you with finishing your application and answer any questions that you may have" . We're not totally thrilled with that - there are other companies that let you complete your enrollment online and pay for it then and there - but it's not a red flag or anything concerning. It's just not quite as well-rounded as we'd prefer.

Perfect grade from the BBB

We're pleased to note that Healthcare Marketplace's parent company, Health Network Group, has an "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau. We were surprised that we didn't find much consumer feedback beyond that - but in an industry like health insurance and related enrollment platforms, it could be that "no news is good news" .

Great way to shop for health insurance

Healthcare Marketplace stands out because of the number of insurers and policies it offers, the interface that gives you three recommendations, and the ability to browse at a really specific level before providing any personal information. The company has a solid reputation, and we're not worried about the limited feedback. We give Healthcare Marketplace our strong recommendation to anyone looking to get health insurance.

eHealth Insurance

• Choose from more than 10,000 health insurance plans from 180+ companies
• Customer service with licensed agents is available 24/7, even after you purchase a plan
• Plans available for Individuals/Families, Small Business, Medicare, Short-Term, Dental, Vision, and GAP
• "A+" rated by the BBB

eHealth got its start in 1997 to help Americans compare and buy health insurance over the internet. The company partners with more than 180 insurers offering over 10,000 health insurance plans, serving five million consumers and counting.

Lots of insurance types on offer

There are many different types of health insurance you can get through eHealth: Medicare, short-term, small business, individual/family, dental, vision, and GAP, If you're trying to find coverage for yourself or your family, click on the Individuals and Family tab on the main eHealth page and enter your zip code. (Just note that if you use your browser's autofill function, it may come back as "invalid zip code" . Try typing it in directly instead and that should let you advance to the next page.)

Easy to navigate the questions

You'll be asked a series of questions about whether or not you're a business owner, if you're looking for an ACA plan or an alternative that doesn't meet ACA requirements, and so on. At every step, you'll have access to more information if you need it: look for the "learn more" link or eHealth's decision guide on the page where you get stuck.

Subsidized or not?

Once you've entered your information, you might qualify for a subsidized plan. At that point, you can either choose to go to the third-party Health Sherpa site (which many of the health insurance companies in our review use) to see if you qualify for the subsidy, or you can opt to view unsubsidized plans. We appreciate being offered the choice: many of eHealth's rivals automatically send you over to Health Sherpa without giving you any other possibilities. When we looked at unsubsidized plans for our test case, a 25-year-old male, non-tobacco user in Florida, we were matched with 13 Ambetter health insurance plans ranging in price from $304.66 to $402.07 per month.

Get recommendations specific to you

Interestingly, when we opted to view the subsidized plans via Health Sherpa, we were given different questions from the other companies in our review. These asked us to estimate how much we anticipate using healthcare services (low/medium/high), so that eHealth could make a more accurate recommendation. We still got the same 209 plans to choose from when we were redirected to Health Sherpa from other platforms we evaluated, but using eHealth gave us a recommended plan that would be the least expensive for our test case's coverage needs. The recommended health insurance was through Oscar and priced at $29.03/month, but we could also choose plans from big-name insurers like BCBS and United Healthcare.

24/7 customer service before and after you enroll

From there, we could enroll directly with the insurer of our choice, using eHealth as our representative to complete the process. Even after you select your own plan, you can still use eHealth as your advocate if you have any problems with the insurer. Customer service is available 24/7 with eHealth. You can choose to reach out via online chat, email, or telephone support and get help from a licensed health insurance agent.

Good reputation - mostly

For the most part, eHealth Insurance has a good reputation. The Better Business Bureau gives the company an "A+" rating, though it stops short of offering accreditation as well. We found thousands of five-star reviews from satisfied customers saying that this service makes it easy to find the right healthcare coverage. We're glad to see reviews from long-term users of eHealth who rely on the company to keep them updated on new insurance options and help them make a switch if there's something better available.

Not everyone has a good experience here

However, we also found some serious complaints that give us pause when deciding how to rank this health insurance platform. Not everyone has a smooth experience with eHealth: some people describe getting spammy phone calls for months after they provide their contact information, and others feel like they were given the runaround when trying to resolve issues (both during and after the sign-up process).

Good but not the best

There's a lot to like about eHealth, from round-the-clock customer support to taking the extra steps to make a coverage recommendation to find the best plan for your needs. And, if you're interested in medical insurance that isn't subsidized, eHealth is one of the only services we reviewed that will help you do that. But, the concerns raised by some of eHealth's clients keep us from giving this service our highest recommendation. You might want to circle back to eHealth after giving our top choices a look first.

New Plan Options

• Available health insurance includes ACA/Obamacare, Business, Medicare Supplement/Advantage, Short-Term, Healthcare Sharing, and Dental
• Insurers include United Healthcare, Cigna, BCBS, OneShare, National General, Mutual of Omaha
• Licensed in 45 states (exceptions are Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island)

New Plan Options is a service of CMS Insurance Agency, a family-owned business since 1985. The website can connect you with many different types of health insurance, such as ACA/Obamacare, short-term coverage, business plans, and more.

Straightforward questions

Assuming you're shopping for an ACA plan, let's talk about what you can expect with the process of getting health insurance through New Plan Options. You'll begin by choosing that coverage from the dropdown box and entering your zip code. Next, specify who you're covering: one adult, adult and children, and so on. New Plan Options asks for your name and phone number right away, and they don't tell you how they'll use it.

Routes you through Health Sherpa

On the next screen, New Plan Options passes you along to a third-party site, Health Sherpa. We experienced this hand-off with other health insurance sites in our review, so it's not uncommon. At that point, when you look at the top of the page, you'll see that you're looking for coverage through CMS Insurance Quotes and the name of one of the company owners as your licensed agent.

Answer the questions to get matching plans

From there, the process is pretty standard, asking for your name and phone number (again), age, whether you're a tobacco user, if you're eligible for coverage through some other means (job, Medicaid/Medicare, CHIP), and so forth. Subsequent screens ask if you have any preferred doctors or hospitals (so that you can be shown plans that include them in-network) or if you're taking any prescription medications (to get estimates for costs under the various insurance plan options).

Enroll right from the site

Just like the other services in our review that involve a hand-over to Health Sherpa, New Plan Options' process matched us with just over 200 plans to choose from, using a 25-year-old male in Florida as the test case. These included big names like Cigna and BCBS, as well as smaller names like Oscar and Ambetter, with premiums ranging from under $30/month to over $800/month. The good news is that you can apply for any of those plans directly through the platform: you won't have to re-enter all of your information on the insurer's website, and New Plan Options (via Health Sherpa) will take care of getting you registered through the federal Marketplace.

Quick response from customer support

We were impressed with how quickly we got a response from a support rep at New Plan Options when we opened the live chat, even outside of regular business hours. He explained that the company is licensed throughout the US, with the exceptions of Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island - so keep that in mind if you live in one of those states because you may need to use a different service to find health insurance.

Where's the feedback?

On the other hand, feedback for New Plan Options is really hard to come by. There are several CMS Insurance Agency listings with the Better Business Bureau, but none that we were able to match with the New Plan Options service. There are a couple of user testimonials featured on the site, but that's about it. Compared with rival services that have hundreds or thousands of user reviews, this health insurance platform comes up a little short in that respect.

Solid but not a big player in health insurance online

Overall, New Plan Options doesn't seem like a problematic way to get health insurance. We were pleased to get help right away through the live chat, and the system is easy to use. But, there are other platforms that have a bigger foothold in the industry, and we recommend you keep New Plan Options as a backup plan if you don't find what you need with a better-known service for your healthcare coverage.

Insurance Quotes

• Get quotes for health, auto, home, or life insurance
• "A+" rated by the BBB

Insurance Quotes is enthusiastic about connecting you with insurance. "Armed with thousands of resources and a large network of national and local insurance agents" , they claim to be able to save you time and money when looking for health insurance.

Insurance of every type

You'll see very quickly that this is a jack-of-all-trades kind of website for all types of insurance. In fact, it defaults to car insurance quotes, and you might miss the dropdown box where you have to select health insurance to find what you're looking for. Once you've done that and entered your zip code, you ought to be able to get quotes. But, we found the site to be glitchy and it kept defaulting to auto. In order to get to health insurance, we had to click the link at the bottom of the site instead.

Info required to get a quote

Finally, we were asked the typical questions when looking for medical coverage: gender, number in the household and estimated annual income range, and so forth. Insurance Quotes won't let you get much beyond that without entering your name and email address. Watch the fine print before you submit that or your address/phone number on the following page: it says that when you provide such information, you're authorizing Insurance Quotes to pass it along to "up to eight insurance companies or their agents or partner companies" . And, they don't disclose in advance who those partners might be. That's not our favorite way to get health insurance.

Quotes will come via phone call

When we entered the information for a 25-year-old male in Florida, we got a message that they'd be calling us with quotes or we could reach out through their toll-free number if we didn't want to wait. We were also matched with Molina Healthcare as an option in our area, and we were redirected to that website when we clicked to see our results. At that point, we had to enter our information all over again.

This is a lead generator

It all becomes clear when you realize that Insurance Quotes is a subsidiary of All Web Leads, a company that serves just as a connector between consumers and insurers, not as any kind of insurance expert or even licensed agency. Of course you're going to get passed off to someone else. AWL enjoys an "A+" rating and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau, but who would know to complain to them if something goes wrong?

Doesn't get favorable reviews

And, despite that glowing BBB listing, we still found complaints from customers and insurance agencies. It doesn't seem like anyone is genuinely happy with anything they get through this service: not the agencies paying for leads and not the consumers looking for insurance coverage. We certainly weren't impressed with the platform or with the way we could only view one insurer recommendation (and then had to start the process all over again on the insurer website).

Poor choice for buying health insurance

You want a website that's going to make it easy to find health insurance, not one that's going to be a hassle - and that might wind up selling off your personal information until you're inundated with spam from companies you don't really want to hear from. That's why we encourage you to look for medical coverage with one of the higher-rated services in our review, and avoid using Insurance Quotes.

Health Insurance.com

• Offers a wide range of insurance products
• ACA and short-term health coverage available

Health Insurance.com is a service of Together Health. Using this site, you can learn about health insurance plans and get a quote online. That includes ACA plans, cancer insurance, dental, hospital indemnity, Medicare, short-term insurance, and telemedicine.

Educate yourself with the FAQ

If you're new to shopping for health insurance, you might get some useful information here in the FAQ. Topics there include the ten essential benefits required by the ACA, differences between ACA plans and short-term health insurance, and so forth.

Watch for the hand-off

Maybe you want to jump straight into getting coverage. Choose the type of insurance you need from the dropdown box to get to the quote system. We started out with ACA Health Insurance for a test subject in Florida, a 25-year-old male, nonsmoker, with $35,000 in household income. When we entered our zip code, we were surprised to be pushed off onto the Health Sherpa site, with another service from our reviews (eHealth) listed at the top and associated with American Service Insurance Agency. There was no explanation as to why we were being sent along to so many different companies: not nearly as straightforward as you might expect with a name like Health Insurance.com

Non-subsidized coverage available

Fortunately, the process was still what we anticipated, and we were given the option of seeing if we qualified for a subsidy or if we wanted to see off-exchange plans. We chose the latter just to see what came up, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that there were 61 options, starting at a premium of $304.66 per month. We were also happy to note that it wasn't just under one insurer (like we'd gotten through a rival service): insurers included Oscar, United Healthcare, Cigna, and several others, all with premiums under $400/month.

Enroll online

Once you select a plan, you'll be able to enroll directly through the website. Just remember that you're no longer going through Health Insurance.com: you will have been redirected to a third-party company (or several) as indicated at the top of the site. That will likely vary based on your state of residence.

The BBB gives this service a "D+"

At the time of this review, Health Insurance.com wasn't rated or accredited by the Better Business Bureau. At first, we weren't sure why: there were only four complaints filed against this service in the most recent three-year period and none in the last 12 months. But then, we researched further and figured out that Health Insurance.com is part of the Benefytt Technologies family of companies - and under that listing, we turned up a disappointing "D+" rating. Why? According to the BBB (and the 75 complaints filed there over the last three years), "the business has failed to resolve underlying causes of a pattern of complaints" . And what were those? Billing disputes, misrepresentation during the process of buying health insurance, denial of claims, and so forth.

Won't take responsibility when problems arise

We also weren't impressed to see that Benefytt tries to pass the buck for taking responsibility when these problems happen. They may be "just a technology platform" - but that's who consumers are turning to in order to connect with insurers. Not to mention the fact that Health Insurance.com has plenty of rivals who gladly stick with customers well after the policies have been sold, advocating for them when issues arise.

Choose a higher-rated health insurance site

Let's face it: under any name - Health Insurance.com, Agile Health Insurance, Together Health, or any other - Benefytt sites lead to disappointed customers. It's hard to find a reason why anyone would go here for their coverage, other than because they were led to believe that with a name like Health Insurance.com, this platform would be the best. Wrong. Look to the top-rated sites in our review for a much better experience searching for and buying your healthcare coverage.

Agile Health Insurance

• Offers a wide range of insurance products
• ACA and short-term health coverage available

Agile Health Insurance is the ecommerce division of Health Pocket Inc. and part of the Benefytt Technologies brand family. Agile is a licensed agency that is able to offer a wide variety of insurance plans, from ACA coverage to short-term medical insurance, limited medical insurance, dental insurance, and more.

No unpleasant surprises in the application process

Let's assume you're looking for an ACA plan. Here's what you can expect from the process at Agile Insurance when you click on the "Find a Plan" button. First, you'll be asked for your zip code - at this stage, your name, email and phone number are optional (We always prefer to withhold as much information as possible while we're browsing health insurance plans and platforms). Next, you'll enter the age and sex of the person you're trying to insure, along with any dependents (such as spouse or children), and then indicate if they're a tobacco user and if they're eligible for any other coverage (job, Medicaid, CHIP). This platform also lets you enter the name of a particular doctor, specialist, or hospital if you need to know which insurers they accept before you choose. Ditto that for any prescription drugs you're taking.

See quotes without disclosing personal info

We like that consumers can see all of the plan options without entering their personal information, although you'll have the option of entering your email address to save your progress. When we entered a 25-year-old male, nonsmoker, in the state of Florida, we got just over 200 plans to choose from, with monthly premiums ranging from $29.03 to a staggering $807.34. United Healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Cigna were the three big-name insurers we spotted in the list, with smaller companies like Oscar and Ambetter as well.

Too many hand-offs

Once you've chosen a plan, you'll be walked through the enrollment process. Essentially, you'll be using Agile's platform to represent you while setting up your Obamacare coverage. However, you're going to see a lot of name changes as you use this platform to find health insurance. It starts out as Agile, then clicking to get an ACA quote takes you to the Health Sherpa website, and then even there it was labeled as American Service Insurance Agency. There's nothing straightforward here: you could get lost trying to keep track of who, exactly, is getting your personal information and where you should turn if you have a question or problem along the way.

Low grade from the BBB

We also weren't happy to learn that Agile Health Insurance had a "D+" rating from the Better Business Bureau at the time of this review. According to the BBB's explanation on the listing for Agile's parent company, Benefytt Technologies, the "business has failed to resolve underlying causes of a pattern of complaints" . On the BBB site, there were 75 complaints filed in the most recent three-year period, describing some of those frequent issues: misrepresentation during the insurance purchasing process, billing disputes, and denial of claims for what customers were led to believe would be covered expenses.

Whose fault is it, anyway?

This service tries to remove any blame from itself by saying that it's "the other guy's fault" , more or less. Their response to the BBB asserts that they're just a technology platform that connects clients with health insurance carriers, and so if there's a problem with overselling and under-delivering, consumers should be mad at the insurance company. But, given that there are plenty of rival health insurance platforms who aren't getting dozens of complaints (or a bad grade from the BBB), we don't buy Agile's reasoning here.

Not recommended for health insurance

Agile Health insurance has nothing to beat out the competition. There are lots of ways you can get your medical coverage online, so why would you choose a platform with a poor reputation with the Better Business Bureau, too many names to keep track of, and a disappointing history with respect to customer service? We don't recommend using Agile Health (or any Benefytt company) to buy health insurance.

First Quote Health

• Founded in 2014
• Connect with multiple insurance partners

First Quote Health says that they put you in touch with licensed, independent agents to get free quotes on different types of health insurance plans "in just a single phone call" (or by using the site to "find deals" ). The company has been in business since 2014.

No quotes without a phone call (or several hundred)

When you enter your zip code and then click on "Complete My Quote" , you'll be taken to a form that asks for your gender, birthdate, height and weight (?), household size and income, and so forth. You can also indicate when you need your coverage to start, if you'd like any other type of coverage (dental, vision, life, pet, telehealth), and then your contact information. However, we'd recommend that you stop before you get there. Why? The next screen says "connect now" to review your quote - and then informs you that your phone will ring. You don't actually get to see any quotes on the screen unless you click the "x" to clear that popup, and in that case you'll be redirected to an insurer (Molina Healthcare)...to start the process all over again.

Zero stars from users

Besides that, First Quote Health has a terrible reputation. Among all of the reviews we found, 100% gave this service the lowest possible rating of just one star - and most people said they'd give it zero stars if they could (just for laughs, our favorite description of this company from customer feedback was "clown factory" ). Dozens of people said that "scam" is the best word for First Quote Health and complained about receiving so many phone calls and emails that they wanted to throw their phone away and get a new number. Also, multiple consumers report that when they indicate that they need more time or more information before committing to an insurance plan, they get a rude response from the First Quote Health representative.

Only trying to make money

This all stems directly from the fact that First Quote Health is the platform for NextGen Leads: a lead generation platform, not a licensed insurance agency. In other words, First Quote Health exists for the sole purpose of making money for NextGen, not for helping you get good health insurance coverage. You'll find all of that in the Terms page.

Your information will be sold

That's also where you'll see the very lengthy list of "marketing partners" where your information goes. Remember how people said they were getting inundated by spam calls (some reported hundreds a day). Look at that list and you'll see why: sure, there are some that you'd want when looking for medical insurance, like Cigna or Blue Cross. But who is Bold Media Group? CS Marketing? Or any of the other hundreds of businesses who will get your information if you give it to First Quote Health?

Don't give your information to First Quote Health

By now you've probably understood why we recommend staying far, far away from First Quote Health. Choose a health insurance platform that is reputable and staffed by licensed insurance agents, not a lead generation company that just wants to make money off of you.

CoverPlus Health

• In business since 2015
• Offers Health Insurance, Short-Term Medical, ACA/Obamacare, Limited Benefit, Dental, and GAP plans

We'll come right out and say it: CoverPlus Health should not be a service you trust to get healthcare insurance. Despite (supposedly) being in business since 2015, the site is still letting you know you might be able to get coverage for 2020 (several years ago, now...). Read on to find out why this should be the last place you go to get medical coverage, dental plans, or any of the other types of insurance that CoverPlus Health theoretically offers.

Unprofessional

The CoverPlus Health website is sketchy at best. It looks okay at first, but then when you start drilling down a little deeper you find all kinds of issues. For example, on the Agents page, it says "here we are today masterfully negotiated the best contract and offering to independent agenta (yes, that's how it's written on the site) and General Agencies like you and many." Uh, what? Clicking on all of the social media links at the bottom, you'll be taken to a broken Instagram account link, a YouTube channel with no content, a LinkedIn profile for a company with one employee, and a Facebook page with reviews that have nothing to do with insurance or CoverPlus.

No customer service

But wait! There's more! When we called the toll-free number during regular business hours, we got an automated voicemail system that spelled out a totally different phone number and said it was unavailable, inviting us to leave a message. For whom? The only other way to reach CoverPlus is through the online form. Doesn't exactly scream "trustworthy" , does it?

You'll be sent to a different service

Okay, so maybe you're a glutton for punishment and you decide to roll the dice with CoverPlus Health anyway. What will that look like? Say you're starting out looking for an ACA plan and you select that in the dropdown box. You'll be redirected to the same Health Sherpa platform you'll find with many of the rival services in our evaluation - and CoverPlus actually comes up as Health Plans Direct via eHealth, one of the platforms we reviewed separately. Again, why start your search through CoverPlus when you can go directly to eHealth (or any other insurance company that uses the Health Sherpa service)? All CoverPlus is doing is making money as a lead generator and then passing you along to a different company.

Worst option for getting health insurance

You have zero reason to use CoverPlus Health to find an insurance plan. You'll have no way of reaching support if you need it, no idea who you're giving your information to as you walk through the process, and probably no way to register a complaint if you have a problem. Avoid this platform and go with a well-established service for getting health insurance instead.