While there hasn't been a whole lot of good news about the state-based and federally facilitated exchanges as of late, a new study suggests that the options they provide tend to be more substantial than those that are run by brokers.
Insurance plan information firm HealthPocket came to this determination after examining 11 major cities – including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami, to name a few – all of which participated in the exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. On average, it found that in broker-operated exchanges, they had approximately 30 percent fewer plans that were ACA compliant versus those operated by the state or federal government. Additionally, premiums were, on average, 6.5 percent higher for the lowest cost plan in government marketplaces compared to those managed by brokers.
"It should be noted that while the government exchanges performed better than broker exchanges with respect to inventory breadth, the government exchanges often did not display the complete inventory of ObamaCare products, excluding off-exchange health plan options in many cases," the HealthPocket report stated. "Consequently, consumers could not review a complete set of health plan options on either the government exchanges or the broker exchange web sites examined."
According to analysis performed by research company S&P Capital IQ, within the next six years, 9 in 10 Americans who receive employee benefits through their workplace will be transitioned to the government exchanges, The New York Times reported recently. Michael Thompson, managing director for the Manhattan-based multinational financial information provider, noted that he believes the tax incentives will be enough for many employers to make the switch, though certainly not all.
