RIGHT SPEAK: What matters most with Consumers about Health Care?

The federal health overhaul's big requirement that most people carry health insurance is still months away, but already insurers like Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island have a sense of what will matter most to consumers: price.

"To me, it's all about money," said Rob Roy, who compared plans in a consumer test for the insurer. Currently uninsured and working as a cook in a pub, Mr. Roy said he found the choices too expensive. He ended up opting for a competitor's plan instead of Blue Cross.

The lessons learned from consumers like Mr. Roy are playing a big role in how insurers will approach the health law's new world this fall.

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To figure out who's going to show up for the new marketplaces and what they want, companies have plunged into research. They have been setting up simulated exchanges for consumers to test-drive. WellPoint Inc., the insurer that may end up with the biggest presence on the exchanges nationally, has put about 55,000 people through these faux exchanges.

"You're going to try to have a population of individuals who have never purchased this product," said Raymond Smithberger, who oversees individual health plans at Cigna Corp. "It's like buying a brand-new car if you've never driven before." Cigna used the online simulations to help decide which state exchanges it would join, and to shape some elements of its coverage design.

Simulations by firms like Stonegate Advisors LLC, which conducted the Rhode Island insurer's test-drive, have found that consumers often choose plans fairly quickly, without always looking in-depth at the benefit details. People with more health problems wanted richer coverage so they wouldn't have to pay much to go to the hospital or doctor's office

. To learn what was learned by these simulations, read the full story HERE.

The WSJ has created an interactive Guide to Obamacare. Click on the Photo Below: