Exchanges juice voluntary market

The SHOP market might attract just a small percentage of small employers. The new PPACA rules will have almost no direct effect on large, self-insured employers. But the large employers already are moving toward increasing deductibles. If and when the new PPACA Cadillac plan tax on high-value coverage kicks in, that could accelerate the trend.

Voluntary market players expect to see workers in the new, higher-deductible plans buy the same kinds of gap-filling products that holders of high-deductible, health savings account-compatible health coverage now buy.

In theory, the public exchanges could become big voluntary product players themselves. They can help users click through to separate pages that sell other insurance products.

Large benefits consulting firms and managers of Web-based insurance sales systems want to attract employers to new “private exchange programs,” or Web-based, multi-plan enrollment systems.

Traditional Web insurance supermarket sites also would like to get a piece of the voluntary action.

See also:

• Carriers to promote voluntary products on private exchanges
• IRS officially postpones employer mandate
• Still a lot of value in vision – even with PPACA