Saturday, March 25th
2023 Health Insurance Plan Reviews
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.
More Health Insurance Plan Reviews
Where Can You Get the Best Health Insurance?
About half of Americans have health insurance from their employer. But what if you're not one of them? Not only can it be risky to go without insurance - one trip to the ER for kidney stones can easily result in a bill of $75,000 or more - but the IRS will also penalize you for not having qualifying health coverage. Ouch.
The good news is that you have coverage options that might come with a tax credit used to reduce your monthly premiums, if you need to find health insurance on your own. Those plans come through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, but if you've tried to navigate the government site on your own, you already know it can be confusing at best.
Health Insurance Plan FAQ
Continued from above...
Don't worry, there's more good news: there are a number of health insurance platforms that can help you sort through your options and get coverage. You won't pay extra for using one of these resources, and you'll often get the benefit of knowledgeable guidance from a licensed insurance agent. If you don't understand the difference between PPO and HMO or between deductibles and coinsurance, you should make sure you have an expert on hand to walk you through the process of picking a plan.
However, not all websites promising to help you with your health insurance are trustworthy. While some are exactly as they appear - services staffed by licensed agents, authorized to act on your behalf to enroll you in a plan - others are just lead generators who get paid to pass along your information to any number of insurance agencies, marketing companies, and who knows where else.
How can you tell which health insurance websites are on the up-and-up? Keep an eye on these criteria as you decide where to start shopping for coverage:
- Licensed Agents. As we mentioned, the reputable platforms offering health insurance will always have an option to work with a licensed agent - usually well before you ever provide any personal information.
- Upfront Quotes. Do you have to enter a lot of details before you can see quotes for policies in your area? That can be a red flag. We prefer health insurance sites that let you enter a zip code and some limited demographic info (usually male/female, age, and income range), then show you a preliminary set of matching plans.
- Support Available. How easy is it to get help if you get stuck in the application process? Will the company advocate for you after you've purchased a health insurance policy? Can you reach someone via phone, live chat, or even in person? Is help offered only during business hours or round-the-clock?
- Ease of Use. How quickly can you see quotes? Can you easily sort out health insurance coverage by premiums, insurers, or any other criteria? Can you apply online and get coverage right away or will a phone call be required to finalize your enrollment?
- Reputation. Lots of health insurance sites talk big, but which ones actually come through? You can determine that by looking at the company's Better Business Bureau rating and any complaints filed there, along with client reviews on third-party sites.
To help you get the medical coverage you need, TopConsumerReviews.com has evaluated and ranked the best resources for finding health insurance plans. We're confident that this information will make it easy to navigate the often-tricky world of healthcare and buy the right plan for your needs.
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