By Martha Heberlein

Mark your calendars – on July 1, 2010, HHS plans on launching the new health reform web portal to provide state-level information about affordable health coverage options. In anticipation of the launch, regulations were released today detailing what information the portal will include and how the data will be collected.

The portal will be designed to help individuals and small businesses learn about coverage options in their state. It will include information on:

• Medicaid and CHIP,
•  Health coverage options offered on the individual market,
•  Existing state high risk pools, as well as the new high risk pools established by the PPACA, and
•  Coverage within the small group market for small businesses and their employees.

In order to promote the ability of consumers to understand the information, it will be provided in a standardized format designed to “minimize the use of technical language, jargon, or excessive complexity.”

As July 1st is a pretty tight timeline, the initial release of the web portal will only contain basic information on issuers and their products. Consumers will be able to learn about issuers that sell individual and small group products in their area and follow links to benefit information for those products, as well as access some educational information on the individual market. The portal also will include information for small businesses and coverage available through the high-risk pools.

A more comprehensive version of the portal will be launched in October. This version will have benefit and pricing information, including premiums, cost sharing options, types of services covered, coverage limitations, and exclusions.

Importantly (and beginning with the initial launch in July), the portal will also provide information on eligibility and services for Medicaid and CHIP, including contact information and websites for the state programs. (Think of it as an upgrade on insurekidsnow.gov with coverage options for parents and adults, too!)

Having all this information in one place will help families learn about and connect with Medicaid and CHIP, as well as other sources of coverage, and provide the tools that enable more people to obtain health insurance between now and 2014.