Brian M. Kalish

For much of the country, Monday was the last day to enroll in health insurance coverage through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, Healthcare.gov, to have a Jan. 1, 2015 effective date. Overall enrollment ends Feb. 15, 2015. Unlike last year’s open enrollment, the system has hit few, if any, snags and is on track to hit or exceed its enrollment estimates.

Despite pressure from clients to provide an immediate solution for rising health care costs – brokers need to proceed slowly and cautiously when discussing solutions such as private exchanges, according to a speaker at Employee Benefit News’ Private Healthcare Exchanges conference.

Sam’s Club, the big-box members-only warehouse, decided to offer health insurance to its customers through a private health care exchange because those small business owner-members were asking for it. In October, the retail chain said it was partnering with Aetna to offer health insurance to members through a private exchange to small businesses.

Anyone who thinks private exchanges are a new fad should speak with Choice Administrators, the organization that runs CaliforniaChoice. It’s been around close to 20 years, since 1996. President and CEO Ron Goldstein talks with EBA about the business model and how grandmothered plans under the Affordable Care Act could make a big impact in the new year.

Towers Watson has spent nearly a billion dollars of its own capital to build out its private exchange offering, OneExchange, through acquisitions. Jim Foreman, Towers Watson’s director of exchange solutions, shares how voluntary continues to grow in a private HIX marketplace and why more and more employers are expressing interest in the offerings.

Wizened consumers who are able to analyze their entire out-of-pocket exposure. That’s the goal of ConnectedHealth’s private exchange, says Joe Donlan, the company’s president. However, he predicts that increased consumer engagement is just part of the wave toward more employers adopting private exchanges. Donlan shares his view on where the industry is headed and how brokers fit into the exchange system.

Americans’ approval of the Affordable Care Act is at a record low yet those uninsured who purchased coverage through the exchange are overall pleased with the quality of coverage they obtained.

Delays, limited awareness, competition and insufficient subsidies among problems outlined in a Government Accountability Office report on state and federal small group exchanges. CMS says brokers will play a key role in any future growth.

The pro-Affordable Care Act national non-profit group Enroll America is expanding its outreach staff and launching new technology-driven tools in order to reach the still uninsured and enroll them in health insurance during open enrollment, which starts Saturday.

Acquired by Towers Watson in November 2013, private exchange provider Liazon is navigating a unique space. It is both owned by a consultancy and used by that firm’s competitors. Alan Cohen, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Liazon, discusses how all brokers fit into the exchange equation and what, in his view, makes an exchange, an exchange.

Private exchanges are giving brokers and benefit advisers a new venue to increase voluntary benefit sales.

Aetna’s planned acquisition of private exchange operator bswift may signal the start of more insurers acquiring private exchanges, experts in the industry say.

Aetna announced Monday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire private health insurance exchange operator bswift for $400 million.

As active employees move into a retiree population, health care decision-making also changes. Some companies provide a subsidy to the retiree population for purchasing health care on their own, but the tracking of that subsidy and the associated premiums create stress on an already overworked HR department.

In a new series, EBA goes one-on-one with the heads of private exchanges. What makes one exchange different from the rest, and how do brokers fit in the mix? First up: Don Garlitz, bswift's executive director of exchange solutions.

After multiple delays, early access to the federally-facilitated Small Business Health Options Program launched Monday in five states.

Although open enrollment for 2015 Obamacare plans opens in just over three weeks, the uninsured remain unclear about the dates and possible financial assistance available.

CMS promises better, but brokers expect more disconnected phone calls, incorrect information and a difficult time processing applications for enrollment on Healthcare.gov.

The new CEO of the federal health insurance marketplace, Kevin Counihan, knows there is room for improvement, but says new processes have Healthcare.gov ready for 2015 open enrollment.

A fix is in the works to ensure agents and brokers can identify themselves and therefore receive commissions for their work on the federally-facilitated marketplace, an agency official at The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight said Tuesday.