The Santa Ana health insurance market closely resembles the entire state of California with subtle pricing differences as some carriers might have lower premiums in Santa Ana than other parts of the state and of course the reverse as well.
After some preliminary studies of the market, I am again as usual in California recommending Kaiser Permanente and Anthem Blue Cross (Regence Blue Shield is pretty competitive for younger people as well). Kaiser Permanente offers a terrific HMO plan (my particular favorite) and Anthem Blue Cross makes their awesome PPO plan both of which are very traditional and by definition thus very competitive. Both include plenty of benefits before any deductible is applied like office visits and prescriptions and Kaiser Permanente offers most diagnostic testings as well (not just preventative diagnostics) before the deductible. Of course, Anthem will give you more freedom and Kaiser will give you more benefits. If you had perfect foresight and knew your medical expenses every year I could better pick plans for you, because if we knew that you were going to have a year where you were going to spend 10k in medical expenses, than obviously we would want a PPO with a lower deductible.
Regence Blue Shield offers non traditional plans for the most part and I particularly like their Essential Plan 4500 in Santa Ana, however only if it makes financial sense based on your age, zip code, and family size. It has only $4,500 out of pocket with 0 coinsurance but unless you know you are spending like 10k a year it likely will make more sense to go with Kaiser depending on your age.
AARP and Aetna both offer plans as well in Santa Ana, and though I have yet to find a strong demographic for them in Santa Ana I know there is one and I also know AARP and Aetna both accept people that most carriers will not and give much lower rate ups for conditions that some carriers would likely exclude. If I were coming up with a slogan for them in Santa Ana, I would say, Aetna/AARP in Santa Ana, Health Insurance for Humans with Some Money in Savings.
Cigna also has not developed a very strong foothold in Santa Ana either price wise though their network is pretty good. They do price well for the young adult crowd though but usually Kaiser and Anthem kick their butts. Farmers and HealthNet which are now one, also have a great high deductible plan that only makes sense for the younger adults/
