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Insurance Exchanges - Broker Bane or Broker Boon?

According to a recent Marli Riggs post in Employee Benefit Advisor ((eba.benefitnews.com,  Exchanges still need broker influence, April 27, 2011)), insurance exchanges will create demand for new brokers’ services. This post highlights one of these services by explaining the key problem that consumers encounter when trying to use exchanges. The average individual simply does not have the health and financial literacy to effectively engage the healthcare system alone; they will require assistance to achieve empowerment. The post concludes ...

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Health Care is Going Retail, Regardless

According to a story recently reported by Kasier Health News ((http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2011/April/29/private-health-exchanges.aspx?p=1)) some employers have already gone retail. What we are calling "Health Reform" doesn't matter – reform or no reform will create the same retail shift.[caption id="attachment_881" align="alignnone" width="502" caption="All paths lead to retail"][/caption]A viable retail market for health insurance will emerge presenting new challenges and opportunities for insurers, brokers, health care providers, employers and consumers.A scenario of life under health reform:Over the next three ...

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Kaiser Foundation forecasts plan designs under reform

The results of a study released yesterday offer insight regarding how consumer level health plans may be designed under health reform. This important study was commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation and is entitled: “What the Actuarial Values in the Affordable Care Act Mean”. Actuarial Research Corporation, Aon Hewitt, and Towers Watson were asked to estimate what deductibles, coinsurance and total out of pocket expense would be under reform if purchased through the consumer exchange in ...

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Care First CEO says health care is going retail

Reported in the Baltimore Business Journal ((http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2011/04/07/carefirst-ceo-small-employers-will.html)), CareFirst CEO Chet Burrell was quoted as saying: Because the exchanges are designed to replace the current market for individual health care, Burrell believes employers will merely direct their employees to the exchanges instead of signing up for insurance plans during a work-site open enrollment period. Small employers will be the first to do so, he said. Even if health reform is not implemented, even if exchanges don’t come into ...

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The Role of Agents and Brokers Under Health Reform

As expected The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report ((http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11392r.pdf)) that comments on the design and underwriting of health insurance under reform, their comments regarding brokers were unexpected. Acknowledging that new medical loss ratio requirements may significantly reduce compensation for agents and brokers, the GAO noted that their expertise could be used to facilitate coverage through the state-run health insurance exchanges slated to take effect in 2014.Another possibility, according to the report, is that the MLR ...

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Health Care: The Road Ahead

In recent months the national health care landscape has undergone significant change. Over the next several months additional developments will profoundly influence the direction of health care in this country. Initiatives by the federal and state governments as well as private initiatives are reshaping health care today[1]. Passage of the Health Care Affordability and Patient Protection Act, (The Act) and ongoing attempts to modify or repeal it illustrate the contentious nature of the health care debate ...

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