Health insurance exchanges

The biggest U.S. health insurer is considering pulling out of the Affordable Care Act as it loses hundreds of millions of dollars on the program, casting a pall over President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement.

Brokers have been largely an afterthought on the public health care exchanges, industry insiders say, and one company says it is trying to change that at no cost to the broker.

A new hotline for agents and brokers will not be able to answer specific questions from agents about their clients, disappointing broker organizations, which expected a hotline similar to what navigators have.

To date, adoption of private benefit exchanges by employers has been modest, but Holley Maher, partner at St. Louis-area brokerage MRCT, sees them as a highly relevant solution. And, despite issues Healthcare.gov has caused for brokers and consumers alike, the site is changing the health care landscape, says Maher, whose company operates its Smart Benefits Marketplace using bswift technology.

The agents have completed mandatory training to sell on the federally-facilitated marketplace for 2016, with 10,000 more in the process. For the first time, producers can train through non-government organizations, including NAHU and AHIP.

As public health insurance exchanges run by states or in partnership with the federal government edge toward financial self-sufficiency in 2016 as stipulated under the Affordable Care Act, adjustments are being made to achieve greater operational efficiencies for their third annual open-enrollment season and beyond.

Challenges are on the horizon for the non-profits, created by the Affordable Care Act — presenting issues as well for the brokers who work with them.

A technical glitch with Vermont Health Connect dating back two years was finally corrected in a recent software upgrade, but it proved to be both time-consuming and costly for the state-based health insurance exchange described as “once-beleaguered.”

Tennessee CO-OP becomes latest to shut down, with more expected to announce closure before the next public exchange enrollment period begins in the next two weeks.

Health insurance carriers have not poached healthier customers from the exchanges for plans sold outside the exchanges, which some feared would lead to adverse selection in the public exchange market, concludes a recent issue brief.