Brian M. Kalish

Aiming to simplify a process akin to “herding cats,” with no unity or way to compare offerings, exchange helps plan sponsors with their fiduciary responsibility.

New consumer tools are in the works for Healthcare.gov, as the federal government focuses on the exchange’s long-term success.

HHS Secretary Burwell says a Supreme Court ruling upholding the legality of subsidies on the federal exchange should shift the conversation about the ACA away from politics and toward improving access to affordable quality health care.

The Obama administration on Thursday launched the “Healthy Self” campaign to better explain health care benefits to those newly insured, connect people to coverage, and encourage healthy lifestyles.

A Supreme Court ruling in favor of the plaintiff in King v. Burwell would most affect Florida exchange subsides, although the impact would be far reaching, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds.

The new reality of health care is here: shopping for benefits online via simple mobile apps; virtual care anytime, anywhere; and games to make chronic care management appealing. Despite that, challenges remain in the move to true digital health and, with it, better outcomes, a top Cigna executive said Monday.

Too many barriers currently exist for data to be shared between government agencies and within the medical field, a group of top public officials said Wednesday in Washington.

The health care system in the United States is on the threshold of changing the course of the nation and what happens now “can impact the life of every American more than any piece of policy or legislation we have seen in the recent past,” Sylvia Mathews Burwell, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday.

Despite nearly 9-in-10 enrollees through California’s state-run public exchange receiving a subsidy to help pay for their insurance, almost half say it is difficult to afford the monthly premium.

The business benefits of private exchanges are starting to be realized by insurers and brokers alike, with an increased focus on voluntary products, savings for insurers and a reliance on brokers.

The Affordable Care Act is here to stay until at least the next presidential inauguration, but there are some fixes that can be made to make the law work better today, the former head of the Massachusetts Health Connector, often called the template for the ACA, says.

Brokers need to change the conversations they are having with clients away from the Affordable Care Act and toward other topics, including voluntary, since little will change with the law until the next presidential inauguration, a carrier rep says.

Brokers not only need to determine which clients might be subjected to the tax, but should also engage with various levels of government if they wish to have an impact on its future.

Multiple signs point to growth in voluntary benefits sales, but employers would like to see a change in how their employees sign up for the benefit, according to new LIMRA data, released Tuesday.

The Affordable Care Act’s Small Business Health Options Program will not succeed without the broker community, the heads of three state-run exchanges said at a HIX policy conference.

With year three open enrollment on the horizon, state-run health care exchanges are busy building out systems and processes while renegotiating contracts, all to improve the customer experience, data flow and costs.

Great technology tools may help a public exchange grow in the short term, but knowing the customer base and business well enough to make the right investments is critical to an exchange becoming sustainable and successful in the long run.

It is “silly” for Republicans to put together a response to the Supreme Court’s expected June ruling on the legality of subsides in the federal health care exchange, the health policy director at the CATO Institute, which helped launch the lawsuit, said Monday.

Healthcare.gov runs the risk of offering too many health plan choices and the opportunity exists to be able to make it easier for consumers to compare coverage, the website’s CEO, Kevin Counihan, said Monday.

Most employers have still not determined how they will comply with complex ACA reporting requirements that began Jan. 1. Benefit brokers and consultants should be discussing the requirements and the solutions with their employer clients, experts say.