sellers, a health care exchange is a competitive marketplace that connects insurance companies with individuals who are shopping for health insurance. In a private exchange, consumers are empowered to select health care coverage that best meets their health needs from a variety of plans, insurance carriers and price points. This fall, over 600,000 employees and their dependents will use Aon designed as a retail shopping experience. Consumer feedback from the Corporate Health Exchange 2012 open enrollment was overwhelmingly positive: 93 percent of employees appreciated having a choice of insurance companies, 79 percent of employees believed they had chosen the best plan for them and their families, and 75 percent reported a greater understanding of what their employer contributes for their health care coverage. An exchange isn’t right for every company, but our clients that have total rewards strategy. They are comfortable giving up control of elements like plan design and claims management in exchange for more options and an improved employee selection and enrollment experience, based on a standard set of plan designs. By focusing on improving the health management, disability incidence and duration, and employee productivity. This year’s open enrollment promises to be a time of great transformation, as private exchanges bring the delivery, ultimately helping to change the health care
Broker Guidance is Key Influence in Employer Health Care Decisions BY RON GOLDSTEIN » PRESIDENT AND CEO » CHOICE ADMINISTRATORS
businesses now have three options to choose from: the government
question:
guidance from brokers. The most successful exchanges will offer a variety of carriers and accessible and affordable for everyone. We know from the past 30 years of health plan evolution that provider networks are fundamental to consumer decision-making.
options, employers considering how important networks are will be key in the decision-making process. Secondly, programs offering additional products and services — whether they’re available to buy-up, offered on a voluntary basis or at no additional employer cost — will quickly differentiate themselves from dental, vision or chiropractic, and could extend to services such as online human resources support or employee discount programs. Offering
Education and Engagement: Crucial for Private Exchange Success BY DENNIS MCGUIRE » CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER » CODEBABY
The intense public attention on health plan selection has highlighted the process as a complex and emotional undertaking with wide-ranging
detracts from employee commitment and loyalty. The success of private exchanges depends on employee education, engagement and ease of use. Not surprisingly, in a ConsumersUnion study participants had
to stand apart from others — while also empowering employers to offer more robust products and services to employees. And lastly, programs that work with independent brokers will provide a greater service to employers. In an era of change and confusion, brokers are best equipped to provide unbiased recommendations necessary to help employers make well-informed decisions. Government and market forces have prompted a shift in how
which carriers and exchanges compete will be vital to their success. Those programs offering multiple provider networks, products and services that add real make smart decisions. They are the options you’ll see succeed in 2014.
ability to assess the overall coverage they would receive. This confusion thinking employers to adopt a range of interactive and educational tools to guide and assist employees during open enrollment. Smartly, they are borrowing online retailer practices such as product comparison tools, behavioral analytics, chat, video, and intelligent virtual assistants to create a superior customer experience. Statistics show that these tools are already expected by employees due to the prevalence of consumer-based technology in daily life. As consumer engagement becomes the adopted contextual information, video tutorials, cost-at-time-of-care calculators, click-to-chat and click-to-call to name a few. A unique and highly effective way employers are facilitating enrollment while lowering costs is through the use of an intelligent virtual
assistant. Not to be confused with traditional virtual assistants that comprise simpler knowledge base solutions and don’t meet the needs of as described by Gartner, do. They are 3D avatars that have natural language response, emotional expressions, human movements, and the ability to guide users through the enrollment process, yet escalate to live help when necessary. These features speak volumes to employers who want to provide 24/7 access to their employees without relying on the HR team, allowing them to self-pace their enrollment and
www.TheIHCC.com I HealthCare Exchange Solutions™ I November/December 2013
13