New Name Approved by the Board Today; Redesigned Website Coming Soon
SACRAMENTO – After extensive research and planning, the California Health Benefit Exchange Board today approved “Covered California” as the name for the new health insurance marketplace created to expand health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act. The name and logo (below) are an important step in launching the new marketplace, which will be available to the public for early enrollment in October 2013, with coverage available to almost five million Californians effective January 2014.
“After testing this name and many others among representatives of California’s diverse populations, the board of the Exchange approved a new name and logo design that conveys to the public who we are and what they can expect,” said Peter V. Lee, Executive Director for the newly named Covered California. “We have chosen a name that we believe will speak to all Californians because the success of the Exchange will depend on our ability to connect with California’s diverse communities in a wide variety of ways to increase awareness of new options for health coverage.”
The aim is to make sure that the new name and logo will come to be recognized as a symbol for affordable, quality health insurance options, and a trusted place where all Californians can get accurate information about how to become insured. Covered California will be complemented by tag-line, additional images, advertisements and a website, expected to launch later this year, to promote the Exchange’s promise of offering affordable health care coverage for millions of Californians and small businesses.
During the last several months, the Exchange, working with stakeholders, researchers and its advertising partners, researched a number of options for names and logos. Other ideas included Covered, CA; Eureka; and CaliHealth. Prior to focus group testing, all the names underwent a thorough trademark search that resulted in several being removed from consideration.
For those names that remained, the Exchange’s research partner conducted both quantitative and qualitative focus groups in San Diego and Sacramento in October. Quantitative focus groups allowed the 228 participants to select their preferred name choice. A smaller group was then chosen to participate in a qualitative focus group which entailed an in-depth conversation on their chosen name. The participants were carefully selected to reflect California’s diversity in ethnicity, age, income and language spoken at home. Nearly 75 percent of participants favored either Covered California or Covered CA, which will both be used by the Exchange.
“We’re excited about the name,” added Executive Director Lee. “In California we continue to move forward to ready ourselves and the public for open enrollment in October 2013 and coverage in January 2014. Under the new banner of ‘Covered California’ we have a name that captures the goal that we all share.”
About Covered California
California was the first state to create a Health Benefit Exchange following the passage of federal health care reform. It is charged with creating a new insurance marketplace in which individuals and small businesses will be able to purchase competitively priced health plans using federal tax subsidies and credits beginning in 2014.
The Exchange is overseen by a five-member board appointed by the Governor and Legislature; the California Health and Human Services Secretary serves as an ex officio voting member and is its current Chair.
For more information on Covered California including a Board meeting calendar, visit www.HealthExchange.ca.gov.
