State insurance exchanges — mandated to start operating in 2014 to offer one-stop health insurance shopping for individuals and small businesses — could sell up to $60 billion in policies during their first year and nearly $200 billion by 2019, according to estimates from consultancy/research firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
And the exchanges will work as intended, as 97% of those covered in the first year will previously have been uninsured, the company asserts. For now, however, consumer education is necessary — more than 80% of consumers eligible for subsidized coverage through the exchanges don’t yet know it.
