Covered California Options
Nov 11 2025
Now that I'm officially off Medi-Cal I can go to Covered CA and look up my options. All these options assume I'm getting: $1 CA Credit and up to $1172 APTC (Federal government aid).
I guess Blue Cross and Blue Shield merged in 1982 though still two different brands.
Blue Shield of California was created in 2019 and HQ in Oakland and is a non-profit (though as of 2014 California declared them a tax-paying nonprofit due to how they handle their money). California Healthcare Quality Report Card 2009 rates them 3/4.
Blue Cross is actually now Elevance Health which operates in multiple states, HQ in Indiana, is a publicly traded for-profit company, and rated 3/4 in 2014 by Caliofrnia's state patient advocacy office.
Kaiser Permanente is a really large HMO based in Oakland, operates 40 hospitals and 614 medical facilities, and has 12.6 million members. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan is non-profit while the medical groups are for-profit. If you are using Kaiser you are going to their branded hospitals and medical facilities and they're large enough that you're always going to be in their system.
CCHP was created by San Francisco Chinese Hospital. I'm assuming most of their coverage is around the Bay Area though I looked at one of their maps and they go to Sacramento area too. Hard to tell how many members they have — I saw 12k at one of their web sites which is small compared to the other three but I remember Oracle had it's own self-funded health plan back when they were 30k employees worldwide.
Kaiser has a medical center in Redwood City. CCHP partners with Dignity Health hospital also in Redwood City. Both have been renovated in the last 20 years.
Right now leaning towards Kaiser as the least cost plans ($0 monthly currently but APTC may be going away because our current Federal government hates publicly subsidized health care). Mom and dad use it — I asked them and mom said it was ok. Steph said one of her friends uses Kaiser and loves it and she also said if you know how to navigate their system it's fine.
So now I have to dig deeper into the three Kaiser options.
Addendum: I did briefly look at Sutter Health Plan. If APTC goes away and I have to pay full then I'd rather be with Sutter Health. But it is a bit more expensive: Platinum $1521, Gold $1283, Silver $1227, Bronze $1028.
Plan Reg. Monthly Adj. Monthly Yearly Max Doctors
Blue Shield Bronze 60 HDHP PPO $1315.17 $142.45 $6650.00 1568
Anthem Blue Cross Bronze 60 HDHP EPO $1272.16 $99.44 $6650.00 705
Kaiser Bronze 60 HDHP HMO $899.19 $0.00 $6650.00 535
CCHP Bronze 60 HDHP HMO $933.36 $0.00 $6650.00 707
Blue Shield Silver 87 PPO $1594.26 $421.54 $3000.00
Anthem Blue Cross Silver 87 EPO $1431.50 $258.78 $3000.00
CCHP Silver 87 HMO $1247.69 $74.97 $3000.00
Blue Shield Silver 87 Trio HMO $1206.44 $33.72 $3000.00
Kaiser Silver 87 HMO $1117.97 $0.00 $3000.00
Blue Shield Bronze 60 PPO $1313.91 $141.19 $8850.00
Anthem Blue Cross Bronze 60 EPO $1271.18 $98.46 $8850.00
CCHP Bronze 60 HMO $926.44 $0.00 $8850.00
Kaiser Bronze 60 HMO $930.53 $0.00 $8850.00
I guess Blue Cross and Blue Shield merged in 1982 though still two different brands.
Blue Shield of California was created in 2019 and HQ in Oakland and is a non-profit (though as of 2014 California declared them a tax-paying nonprofit due to how they handle their money). California Healthcare Quality Report Card 2009 rates them 3/4.
Blue Cross is actually now Elevance Health which operates in multiple states, HQ in Indiana, is a publicly traded for-profit company, and rated 3/4 in 2014 by Caliofrnia's state patient advocacy office.
Kaiser Permanente is a really large HMO based in Oakland, operates 40 hospitals and 614 medical facilities, and has 12.6 million members. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan is non-profit while the medical groups are for-profit. If you are using Kaiser you are going to their branded hospitals and medical facilities and they're large enough that you're always going to be in their system.
CCHP was created by San Francisco Chinese Hospital. I'm assuming most of their coverage is around the Bay Area though I looked at one of their maps and they go to Sacramento area too. Hard to tell how many members they have — I saw 12k at one of their web sites which is small compared to the other three but I remember Oracle had it's own self-funded health plan back when they were 30k employees worldwide.
Kaiser has a medical center in Redwood City. CCHP partners with Dignity Health hospital also in Redwood City. Both have been renovated in the last 20 years.
Right now leaning towards Kaiser as the least cost plans ($0 monthly currently but APTC may be going away because our current Federal government hates publicly subsidized health care). Mom and dad use it — I asked them and mom said it was ok. Steph said one of her friends uses Kaiser and loves it and she also said if you know how to navigate their system it's fine.
So now I have to dig deeper into the three Kaiser options.
Addendum: I did briefly look at Sutter Health Plan. If APTC goes away and I have to pay full then I'd rather be with Sutter Health. But it is a bit more expensive: Platinum $1521, Gold $1283, Silver $1227, Bronze $1028.