In New York state, brokers may have trouble expanding individual health insurance sales to the most attractive prospects.
Brokers are already serving a high percentage of the consumers who are paying the full list price for public exchange plan coverage, and high-income exchange plan users are much likely to buy their coverage through the Web, without in-person help.
Managers of NY State of Health, New York’s state-based Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) public exchange, have included data on 2015 exchange qualified health plan (QHP) distribution channel performance in a new report on the 2015 open enrollment period.
The 2015 open enrollment period started Nov. 15, 2014, and officially ended Feb. 15, 2015. The 2016 open enrollment period is set to start Nov. 1, 2015 and end Jan. 31, 2016.
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NY State of Health enrolled 2.1 million people this year, up from 960,762 in 2014. Exchange enrollment in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plans increased to 1.7 million, from 590,000. And enrollment in exchange qualified health plans (QHPs) — plans from commercial health insurers — increased to 415,000 from 371,000.
The exchange worked with more than 11,000 nonprofit and for-profit in-person helpers for the 2015 enrollment period. That figure includes 5,239 insurance brokers, 765 nonprofit navigators, and 5,384 certified application counselors (CACs) and facilitated enrollers.