SACRAMENTO – In the coming months, millions of Californians will be making an important decision: choosing a health plan during the open enrollment period through their employers or with Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange.

Help in making that decision is available through the newest edition of the online quality Report Cards provided by the California Office of the Patient Advocate (OPA).

The California Department of Insurance also makes the PPO Report Card available at its Web site, www.insurance.ca.gov .

Available in English, Spanish and Chinese, the Report Cards allow consumers to compare the quality of care that more than 16 million commercially insured consumers receive from the state’s 10 largest HMOs, six largest PPOs, and more than 200 medical groups.

The quality information includes clinical as well as patient experience data and is available at www.opa.ca.gov .

“We’ve made it even easier for consumers to compare plans and medical groups based on what really matters to them by doing a side-by-side comparison of just two plans or a couple of groups,” said Elizabeth Abbott, OPA director and long-time consumer advocate. “Consumers can also sort the groups and plans by county, organization name, or by those that received the top rating score in their area. We think it is important that consumers can find the facts they need quickly and make a better informed decision with a very easy to use application.”

Users can also drill-down online to see specific plan performance on topics of greatest interest to them, such as diabetes care, checking for cancer, and behavioral and mental health care.

“We want all Californians to be able to make the best health care decisions possible and the Report Cards are an invaluable resource,” Abbott said. “The Report Cards are now available on a mobile application which you can download from the OPA Web site, allowing users to check the new quality star ratings from wherever they are.”

For detailed information about the 2015-2016 Edition of the Health Care Quality Report Cards, visit www.opa.ca.gov or call 916-324-6407.