Consumer Insurance Site Goes Bilingual

The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a Spanish-language version of the HealthCare.gov Web site mandated under the health care reform law to aid consumers in selecting and purchasing health insurance.


The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a Spanish-language version of the HealthCare.gov Web site mandated under the health care reform law to aid consumers in selecting and purchasing health insurance.

HealthCare.gov went live in July and now is joined by CuidadodeSalud.gov. In addition to enabling consumers to compare health plans, both sites give information about other aspects of the reform law, lists of other health resources and quality rankings for local providers. The Spanish site is especially important because more than one-third of Latinos are uninsured and half do not have a regular doctor, according to HHS.

Content on both sites remains spotty as HHS continues to collect data from insurers and other sources. The sites are designed to provide five categories of information on each plan: services covered, physician locator, drug benefits, price estimates, and a phone number and Web address to contact the plan. Many of the plans only have information listed on some of the categories and none yet have price estimates, which will become available in October.

--Joseph Goedert