Brian M. Kalish

Employers using Aon Hewitt’s multi-carrier fully-insured private health care exchange experienced average annual health care cost savings more than 4% lower than industry projections.

Explosive growth in the individual market is forcing brokers who work with very small groups to change their business models —and often receive less commission in the process.

A 9-million person market is a powerful one to tap. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which represents Blues plans across the country, is the latest to launch a retiree private HIX, coming this summer.

Most private health care exchanges are geared toward active employees. But Tampa, Fla.-based Brown Insurance Group has an eye on part-timers who may have lost coverage or who never had access to group plans. Eric Brown, principal, explains how his private exchange allows employers nationwide to provide coverage to such employees through an exchange-like environment. Brown Insurance also assists with Healthcare.gov enrollment.

Big data is playing an increasingly larger role in benefits strategic planning and if a broker, health plan and employer work together, the opportunities for using such data to lower costs and increase well-being can be realized.

Health insurance plans purchased through public health care exchanges often generate levels of member satisfaction higher than plans obtained through employers, according to a J.D. Power study.

Although consumer-directed health plans are on the rise, few Americans report comparing the quality and price of plans, hospitals or doctors.

With the Affordable Care Act hitting its five year birthday and the second open enrollment period nearly finished, Americans are turning their attention and wishes for Congress and the Obama administration to a focus on prescription drugs.

Employers are bracing for double-digit pharmacy cost increases in the next year, but advisers can help them to take steps now to mitigate those cost increases for both their active and pre-retiree populations.

Consumer expectations demand advisers establish an online presence, LIMRA research shows. Financial advisory firms are stepping up to meet the demand, and following 3 critical steps to achieve social media success.

Of the people who purchased health insurance through a public exchange in 2014, 9% more federal exchange participants re-enrolled compared to the state-run marketplaces.

Enrollment in private health care exchanges hit 6 million for the 2015 plan year, according to Accenture — doubling the 3 million figure from 2014. Most of the growth is in the mid-market segment.

Some universities that provide health insurance to their students are stopping the practice, as they say the Affordable Care Act’s minimal essential health benefits requirements have led to unsustainable cost increases. Those that remain are turning to their brokers to determine the best way to continue offering coverage to their students.

States should not step in and establish their own exchanges if subsides are ruled illegal on the federal health care marketplace, a recent national study found, but industry experts say that is not the national consensus and point to the wording of poll questions to support the discrepancy.

Voluntary business is a well-known tool for brokers to increase their revenue while offering new products. But many employers are hesitant to add these products because of additional administrative burdens they can require. Enter the private health care exchange, says Carlos Ferrera, COO of Solstice Benefits and the Solstice Marketplace. With an exchange, the burden is gone, he says.

UnitedHealth Group’s $12.8 billion purchase of pharmacy benefit manager Catamaran Corp. continues a trend of PBM acquisitions, and there’s more to come, industry consultants say. In the long term, that may mean lower costs and more data availability for employers.

Continued lawsuits over excessive 401(k) fees are on track to force providers to change the way they deliver products and end a practice that appears to be a “showcase of impropriety.”

After two enrollment seasons under the Affordable Care Act's exchanges, the easily accessible and amenable are signed up for health care. With year three starting this fall, the task will be tougher to target the remaining uninsured, who are harder to reach. Who better to drive the message home, Washington state thinks, than brokers?

Many exchange budgets are being cut at the same time states are struggling to reach their remaining uninsured, and some are looking to brokers to provide assistance in filling that gap.

Although most employers who move to private exchanges are seeing some cost savings below trend in their initial years, that is not sustainable over time, says Rob Harkins, practice leader, private exchanges at Willis Group. For Willis, the exchange is not designed to be a long-term money-saving product on its own, but rather part of a larger program for its clients to manage health and wellbeing.