Health insurance in California: New tool to protect consumers.

The California Department of Insurance announced last week that consumers can now receive alerts by e-mail when new health insurance rate filings are made for the individual market.

According to the department’s press release, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said, “We want as many people as possible scouring these rate filings to ensure they are mistake-free.”

The idea behind this (as part of Poizner’s pledge to create transparency by posting all health insurance rate filings on the department’s Web site) is to protect consumers by making sure insurers are spending 70 percent of premiums on medical benefits as mandated by state law. Apparently, the more eyes analyzing these rate filings the easier it is to catch a mistake. It’s not apparent what kind of “mistakes” the department is talking about.

Now this may or may not change how you shop for a California health plan. Perhaps it will give you an idea of which health insurance company has lowered their rates, or has lower rates.

The fact that rates are determined by the companies, and consequently rates (and coverages) can vary quite a bit, means that consumers shopping for affordable California health insurance still need to get multiple quotes to find the right plan. It’s often recommended to get at least three individual quotes for a good comparison.

When reviewing a health insurance plan, keep in mind other factors besides rate. For example, what are the coverages and exclusions? How much is the deductible and co-pays? Can you get access to the physicians and health providers you need? Make sure it will provide for your needs and is offered by a company with a good financial reputation.

If you want to sign up for the alerts, just go to the California Department of Insurance Web site.  Basically, all you have to do is provide your e-mail address and select the documents or updates you want to receive.