Larry Magid: Online Service Simplifies Covered California Options

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— A San Francisco-based company called Stride Health is trying to make it easier for uninsured people to pick out a Covered California health insurance policy.

The idea behind the service is to simplify selecting insurance plans and to better compare options available through Covered California. Although I'm already insured, my 27-year-old son is going through this process and we looked at the Covered California website to take a look at plans.

I was surprised by how complicated it was. It was difficult to compare plans side by side and when we found plans advertised at a certain rate and then tried to buy them, my son couldn't purchase them at the advertised price. As great as the Affordable Care Act may seem, there are still kinks to work out.

Stride Health is a way of comparing the plans and is remarkably simple. You go to stridehealth.com and click on 'Find Your Plan Now' and fill out an easy to follow template with your basic information.

Based on the information you feed it, it will tell you how much your primary care visit costs, costs for typical medications and the number of physicians in your plan that are nearby. Most importantly it breaks down what the monthly payments are.

Eventually as you go through the process, you'll have the opportunity to enter your income to see if you qualify for a government subsidy. If you do, the cost will change accordingly.

Based on the information my son entered, his choices appeared to be a bit clearer because of Stride Health.