Qualified Health Plan (QHP): a health plan that holds a certification from each Exchange through which it is offered, provides the essential health benefits package, and comes from an issuer that is licensed and in good standing in the state. In California, the Exchange board handles certification (Gov. Code §100502). State approval of a policy alone does not make it a QHP.

Issuer duties for a QHP: - Offer at least one Silver plan and one Gold plan in each Exchange where it sells - Charge the same premium rate for each QHP whether it is sold through the Exchange, directly by the issuer, or through an agent; an agent's commission does not justify a higher price Nothing limits QHPs to nonprofit insurers.

Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) is the broad category of coverage that counts. It includes government programs such as Medicare Part A, eligible employer plans (self-insured plans included), individual market plans, and grandfathered plans. Coverage made up only of excepted benefits, such as a separately sold limited-scope dental policy, is not MEC.

How the two relate: a QHP offered by an Exchange is treated as an individual market plan, so every such QHP is MEC. The reverse is not true: Medicare and employer plans are MEC without any Exchange certification. Picture MEC as the big circle and QHPs as a smaller circle inside it.