Online sources give info on costs, coverage

Van Giles, a free-lance public-relations consultant who lives in the Old Town Triangle neighborhood, found health-insurance coverage through GoHealthInsurance.com for what he was willing to pay.

"For young urban professionals in good health and looking for bare-bones coverage, you can find it for $60 to $70 a month," Giles said.

Giles takes no prescription medicine and wanted enough medical-insurance coverage to help him in case of an emergency.

"If I'm on a gurney, I want the hospital workers who search my belongings to find [an insurance] card," he said.

Chicago software company Norvax says consumers who use its GoHealth Insurance.com Web site find health-insurance coverage, on average, for $150 a month or less.

Like Giles, many consumers are turning online to find affordable insurance as well as comparison shop for medical care. Several Web sites now let consumers get some idea of the cost of health-care services in their communities. The Wall Street Journal cited one last week, HealthcareBlue book.com, that helped a Kentucky businessman find a lower price for his wife's planned outpatient gastrointestinal surgery: $1,300 at one place compared with the local hospital's quote of $4,200.

Here are some other sites that compare prices, review quality or offer consumer tips:

• Vimo.com, offers comparison shopping for health insurance.

• Changehealthcare.com, for advice managing costs and navigating insurance.

• NewChoiceHealth.com, compares health care costs.

• PriceDoc.com, compares health care providers' prices and quality.

• LeapfrogGroup.org, rates quality of health care.

• HospitalCompare.hhs.gov, a federal government site, compares hospitals.

Sandra Guy