The Affordable Care Act and its federal and state-run exchanges are back for their sophomore year beginning Nov. 15, but this time, the game for health insurance agents and brokers will be much different. In addition to the debut of SHOP—the law’s public exchanges for small business employers—new evidence suggests the majority of enrollees will avoid using the exchanges again.
According to a new survey from Bankrate.com, 51% of Americans who used the Obamacare health exchanges last year do not plan on returning. These consumers say they have concerns with the new enrollment period, including 43% who object to “much higher prices” for health plans, 26% who say too many people remain uninsured, and 21% who feel there will be more technical problems with the online exchanges.
Bankrate.com insurance analyst Doug Whiteman attributed the shift to consumers’ poor shopping experience last enrollment season, as well as fears of premium increases.
“Households that have already used the health exchanges are just as leery about the new enrollment season as the general public and share concerns about higher insurance rates and glitch websites,” Whiteman said.
Other findings from the survey include:
- 52% of respondents said their household’s experience with the exchange was good, compared to 43% who said it was bad and 27% who felt it was “very bad”
- 53% are either somewhat or very confident the exchanges will operate properly this year, versus 45% who are not too confident or not at all confident
- 43% say they will use the exchange again in the new open enrollment season
Bankrate.com also noticed somewhat of a divide between consumers using the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov, and those using a state-run exchange.
Mark Schelsinger, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told Bankrate.com:
“State-implemented exchanges have a lot more resources than does the federal HealthCare.gov exchange, a lot more consumer assistance and navigators to help people make choices. There really is kind of a divide in how well the program is working.”
All of this isn’t necessarily bad news for producers. After all, agents and brokers’ unique selling point is their ability to shop plans from a variety of carriers without relying on an online exchange, and it’s unlikely exchange defectors will choose to go without insurance entirely.
Gerald Kominski, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, believes those who don’t want to return to the exchanges will simply shop elsewhere—and that’s where producers come in.
“My guess is [they]…are going to shop for coverage outside the exchange,” Kominski said. “That’s a reasonable alternative because the law regulates those so-called ‘mirror’ policies to where there aren’t significant differences.”
Kominski believes the chance of finding “huge bargains” outside the exchanges is unlikely, however, and many analysts suggest Americans may find themselves pleasantly surprised by the exchange this year. And as for premium increases? They may actually be a result of a change in their federal tax subsidy.
“If their income has gone up, they’re not going to get as big a subsidy,” Schlesinger said, “so effectively they could face a higher price—not because the insurance price has changed, but because the subsidy has gone down.”
