In the spirit of Thanksgiving, it’s the perfect time to reflect on 2023 and look ahead to the new year. If you’re offering CaliforniaChoice, you already know what sets it apart from other benefits programs. If not, here are five valuable tools that CaliforniaChoice members are thankful for, so keep these in mind when you’re looking for benefits or evaluating the ones you have.

1: Online Plan Comparison Tool

Our Plan Comparison Tool allows you to look at plans from the eight health plans that participate in CaliforniaChoice: Anthem Blue Cross, Cigna + Oscar, Health Net, Kaiser Permanente, Sharp Health Plan, Sutter Health Plus, and Western Health Advantage.

It includes information on 130+ coverage options, allowing you to easily compare plans based on:

• Monthly premium
• Health plan features
• Metal Tier: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum
• Plan type: HMO, PPO, EPO, HSA
• Provide network/whether you will have access to your preferred doctors

It’s easy to get started by entering your Employee Worksheet Number. Or, if you don’t have an Employee Worksheet, you can search by entering your:

• ZIP Code
• Effective date
• Metal Tier

CaliforniaChoice offers you and your employees more choices than any other program in California. You might select a PPO for yourself, while another employee picks an HMO, EPO, or HSA-qualified plan. Using our online search, you can both find a plan to suit your individual or family health care needs.

2: Employer Cost Control With Defined Contribution

Helping you control your employees’ benefits costs is always at the top of the list for employers. CaliforniaChoice makes it easy to do just that. You decide how much you want to contribute to your employees’ health insurance premiums. You can choose a Fixed Percentage Amount (50% to 100%) toward a specific benefit. Or you can choose a Fixed Dollar Amount, for each employee. (Your contribution has to be the same for all employees.)

Employees use your generous contribution toward the cost of the plans they prefer. If they pick a plan that cost more than your contribution, they simply pay the difference.

The amount you choose to put toward benefits is locked in. That simplifies your budgeting and ensures your costs are predictable. Next year, at renewal, you have the option to adjust your premium contribution, And your premium will be locked in for another 12 months.

3: Business Solutions Suite

With the CaliforniaChoice Business Solutions Suite, you can save on payroll taxes and access a variety of free resources for your company, including:

• A no-cost Premium Only Plan that offers your business savings on payroll taxes, while giving employees the ability to pay their insurance premiums with pre-tax dollars.
• Free Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) allow employees to put money away, pre-tax, to pay for eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses. (Available to groups with 15 or more employees.)
• Cal-COBRA or COBRA billing services: You can take advantage of state or federal COBRA participant invoicing, premium collection and remittance, and payment tracking.
• Rx discounts with the California Rx Card and an HSA Resource Center

The Business Solutions Suite delivers savings on things you and your employees want.

4: Member Value Suite

The CaliforniaChoice membership also provides you and your employees access to the Member Value Suite, which offers you savings on a range of health-related products and services, travel, entertainment, and online shopping:

• Discounts of up to 57% on Garmin, Vitamix, and Fitbit products
• Fitness center memberships for just $28 a month at 12,000+ locations nationwide – plus access to 10,000+ guided workout videos you can watch in the comfort of your own home
• Reduced fees on Dental care services through a network of more than 20,000 Dentegra® dentists
• Savings on Vision care, brand-name hearing aids, and prescription drugs
• Hotels, flights, rental cars, and travel packages
• Tickets to theme parks like Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland, SeaWorld, Six Flags, Knotts Berry Farm, and Legoland
• Discounted tickets to sporting events, Las Vegas and Broadway shows, and virtual entertainment
• Movie tickets at AMC, Cinemark, Harkins, Regal, and other theatres
• Shopping deals from 1800baskets, 1800Flowers, Cheryl’s Gourmet Cookies, FruitBouquets.com, The Popcorn Factory, Edible Arrangements, Shari’s Berries, Dell and HP computers, Office Depot, H&R Block, and many others

There are so many ways to save with the Member Value Suite.

5: The Member Marketplace

The CaliforniaChoice Member Marketplace allows you to enhance coverage by giving you and your employees access to supplemental insurance products from MetLife, including:

• Legal Plans

Starting around $20 per month, Legal Plans provide access to a network of attorneys who can give counsel on a variety of issues. There are zero co-pays and deductibles.

• Accident Insurance

Designed to be an economical way to supplement your health care plan, Accident Insurance pays out a lump sum for injury because of an accident.

• Critical Illness Insurance

Affordable supplemental coverage offers added financial stability, so your employees can focus on healing during a challenging time.

• Hospital Indemnity Insurance

Supplements existing health insurance coverage by helping pay for pricey hospital stays.

Employees can enroll in one plan – or all of them – at any time. Plus, they pay for them on their own, so there’s cost to you or your business.

Contact Your Broker to Learn More

Your health insurance broker can provide you with complete information about these tools and all of the advantages offered by CaliforniaChoice. If you don’t have a broker, we make it easy to search for one.