People who call us from Costa Mesa ask the same handful of questions. They work for themselves, or they left a job, or a plan just ended. This page answers those questions in order, with no sales turn at the end.
Where do I actually buy a plan?
There are two doors. Covered California is the state marketplace, and it is where income based help lives. The other door is buying straight from a carrier. That door is open too, and it suits people who get no help with cost.
Harmony SoCal Insurance Services is a private agency, not a government entity. We do not run the marketplace and we are not part of it. We help you walk through either door.
How does the help with cost work?
Two inputs drive it. The first is your income. The second is how many people live in your household. That is the whole engine.
We give no figures on this page on purpose, because they are reset each plan year. Enter your own numbers at coveredca.com and read the answer there. Then we build a plan around it.
What do the tier names mean?
The metal tiers
Bronze
The least each month of the main tiers. You carry more of the bill when care happens.
Silver
The middle. Some extra savings attach to Silver and nowhere else.
Gold
More each month. Less handed over at each visit.
Platinum
Top of the range each month, with the smallest bill at the visit.
A catastrophic plan also exists for some younger adults. It is built for a bad year, not for routine care.
HMO, PPO, or EPO?
This question decides more cases than the tier does. An HMO runs through a primary doctor who refers you on. An EPO skips the referral but pays nothing outside its network, bar an emergency. A PPO lets you self refer and pays some outside care, for a higher monthly cost.
Neither a wide network nor a low cost one wins by default. The plan that keeps your doctors wins. Our process starts with that list, and so does our Costa Mesa page.
Will my doctors still be mine?
The check we run first
- Every doctor and clinic you want to keep, by name.
- Every specialist, not only the primary doctor.
- Every prescription, against that plan's drug list.
- The exact plan, because two plans from one carrier can differ.
Networks and drug lists can change each plan year. We repeat the check at renewal rather than assume. A licensed agent should look at your own list before you sign.
Can I buy today?
Open enrollment comes once a year, and that is the open door for everyone. Outside it you need a life event. A job loss that ends coverage counts, and so do a marriage, a birth, and a move.
Moving is the one people trip over. Plans are sold county by county. A move from 92627 to 92626 keeps you in Orange County. So does a move to Huntington Beach or Irvine. Leave the county and the whole menu can change.
Should I be looking at Medi-Cal instead?
Sometimes the honest answer is yes. Medi-Cal is California coverage for people with lower incomes, and income is what decides it. It accepts applications in any month, with no window to miss. The marketplace screens for it when you apply.
What does Harmony SoCal do?
We are an independent agency in Orange, serving Orange County since 1987. Mark L Brandenburger holds California license #0718082. Our agents are licensed and our help costs you nothing. We compare plans across the carriers we work with, and we do not place every plan sold here.
Which plans are available, and what they cover, varies by plan and by area, and both can change. So we treat each household as its own case. If you are close to 65, go to Medicare in Costa Mesa first. For the HMO and PPO detail, see HMO plans.
Video and phone handle most of the work. In person can mean your home, a restaurant nearby, or our office in Orange. Call (714) 922-0043 and we will book a time.
Health insurance options for Costa Mesa residents
Why Costa Mesa residents work with us
- Local office just minutes away.
- Independent - we compare 12 carriers, not one.
- We work with you in English or Spanish, from the first call to enrollment.
- Same agent year-over-year - no call-center rotation.