Exchanges could start slowly

How fast will the public exchanges start off?

Maybe a little slowly.

Gary Cohen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, gave that assessment Thursday at a House Energy & Commerce oversight subcommittee hearing.

Cohen spent most of the hearing defending the exchange enrollment program against charges that the enrollers could go door to door to pressure people into enrolling in the exchange program, or, in some cases, to steal people’s identities. 

But he also talked about other PPACA implementation issues.

One topic he addressed is whether the exchanges will actually open their doors by the Oct. 1 startup deadline (they will, he said), and another is how quickly the marketplaces will attract participants.

Wall Street analysts and an Associated Press reporter have been trying to improve on Congressional Budget Office (CBO) public exchange enrollment projections.