ObamaCare sites fail to rate insurance plans

From Fox News:

Shopping for health insurance on the ObamaCare exchanges?

Good luck. Not only will you have to navigate the technical problems that have plagued the site -- but in most states, those running the exchanges are not posting ratings that could give shoppers a clear sense of how good the plans are.

The consumer ratings are called for in the Affordable Care Act. They would be provided by a respected independent company, allowing consumers to judge health plans by treatment outcome, service and consumer satisfaction.

Federal and state officials, though, largely decided it would reflect poorly on the insurance exchanges if some companies were rated and others were not -- and have not yet published them...

The controversy arose last week in California, when Western Advantage and two other highly rated providers -- Kaiser Permanente and Sharp Health Care -- complained the state failed to post their ratings because of opposition from lower-rated plans...

Last week, [California] officials reversed that decision and said the state will begin adding quality scores in 2015.

"To make a smart choice, we need more information, that is why this rating system is so important," said health care analyst Betsy McCaughey. "Otherwise choosing a plan on these exchanges is just a shot in the dark."

The National Council on Quality Assurance rates almost every health plan available nationwide on treatment, prevention and customer service. Each category is scored on a scale of 1 to 5, and then plans are ranked from best to worst.

Eighty percent of insurers nationwide are rated by the NCQA. But only eight states are posting those ratings. The rest, including the 34 state health care exchanges managed by the federal government, do not...

Under the law, the health care exchanges have until 2016 to display quality-of-care data.

Related Post: NBC News: Obama lied, he knew millions could not keep their health insurance