4 Reasons Why CaliforniaChoice Is the Best Alternative for Health Net Grandfathered Plans
Some of the best health plans in California are the ones businesses have held onto for years. If your company has a legacy or “grandfathered” Health Net plan, you know the feeling: the rates are good, the benefits work, and your employees are happy.
Then came the news. Health Net is exiting California’s group health insurance market, with group coverage expected to end February 28, 2027. That legacy plan you’ve protected for years now has an expiration date.
The good news: you don’t have to give it up overnight. CaliforniaChoice offers a path no other option can match.
The problem: a great plan with a deadline
When a carrier leaves the market, every group it covers has to move. For businesses with older Health Net plans, that’s especially painful:
- Rate shock. Legacy rates are often hard to match with a brand-new plan.
- Employees have to learn a new network, new ID cards and new rules all at once.
- Rushed decisions. With a hard end date, many groups feel pressured to pick the first replacement they’re quoted.
What these groups really need is more time and more options. CaliforniaChoice gives you both.
Reason 1: Keep Health Net for one more year
CaifornialChoice can still offer many Health Net plans to new and renewing groups with an effective date on or before January 1, 2027. Groups that make the move get a full 12-month plan cycle on their Health Net plan.
That means:
- Your employees keep familiar Health Net coverage through the 2027 plan year.
- You avoid a rushed, mid-year switch.
- You get a full year to evaluate your long-term options without pressure.
Reason 2: Switch carriers in year two without switching programs
Here’s what makes CaliforniaChoice different. When your year on Health Net ends, you don’t have to shop for a new employee benefits program, re-enroll from scratch or sign a new contract with a new carrier.
Because CaliforniaChoice offers plans from 7 carriers, your next step is simple: at renewal, your employees move to another carrier inside the same CalChoice program. That could be Anthem Blue Cross, Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealthcare or another carrier that fits their doctors and budget.
It’s a two-step transition:
| Step | When | Carrier | What employees experience |
| Year 1 | CaliforniaChoice effective date on or before Jan 1, 2027 | Health Net, through CaliforniaChoice | Their familiar Health Net plan for a full 12-month plan cycle |
| Year 2 | Your next CaliforniaChoice renewal, 12 months later | Anthem Blue Cross, Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealthcare or another CaliforniaChoice carrier | A new carrier inside the same program, with no new program to set up |
A single-carrier replacement can’t offer that bridge. Neither can staying with Health Net direct.
Reason 3: CaliforniaChoice has the most variety of plans in the market
Legacy plans are hard to replace because they were built for your group. CaliforniaChoice gives you the best chance of finding a close match.
With plans from 7 carriers, CaliforniaChoice offers HMO, PPO and HSA-compatible options across multiple metal tiers. Instead of forcing everyone onto one replacement plan, employees can choose the plan that comes closest to what they had: the same doctors, a similar deductible or a comparable monthly cost.
Reason 4: Protection from the next market exit
Health Net’s exit took many California businesses by surprise. If you replace it with one new carrier, you’re exposed to the same risk again.
With CaliforniaChoice, no single carrier holds your whole plan. If a carrier changes direction, your group plan stays in place and employees simply choose another carrier at renewal.
Your options for a legacy Health Net plan, compared
| Stay with Health Net direct | Switch to one new carrier | Move to CaliforniaChoice | |
| Keep Health Net in 2027 | Only until Feb 28, 2027 | No | Yes, a full plan year if effective by Jan 1, 2027 |
| Carriers available | 1, and it is exiting | 1 | 7 |
| Changing carriers later | Must find a new plan by Mar 1, 2027 | Requires a new plan or program | Employees pick a new carrier at renewal, same program |
| Employee choice | One carrier’s plans | One carrier’s plans | Each employee chooses their carrier and plan |
| Protection from another market exit | None | None | The group plan stays in place |
The first deadline that matters: January 1, 2027
The one-year Health Net bridge is only available to groups with a CaliforniaChoice effective date on or before January 1, 2027. After that, the option to keep Health Net goes away.
Don’t let your Health Net grandfathered plan expire without a plan. Talk to your broker about moving to CaliforniaChoice now, or contact CaliforniaChoice to compare your legacy Health Net plan with the alternatives.
