More than 100,000 U.S. employees will be able to sign up for health insurance through a new corporate exchange launched by Aon Hewitt, the human resources and health benefits consultant firm said Thursday.
The exchange will turn "selecting health benefits into a retail shopping experience" that will be a similar to Amazon and Orbitz. Benefits will be offered by nine national and regional carriers, including UnitedHealthcare, Cigna and Health Care Service Corporation, which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans for 14 million members, including 5 million national account members.
The exchange will be similar to state exchanges being set up by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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The hope is that the exchange will increase competition between health insurance plans, thus leading to better prices for consumers.
"There are examples in every industry, including iTunes, Amazon.com and Orbitz, where the introduction of competition on a retail, consumer level has driven down prices and made the industry more efficient," says Ken Sperling, Aon Hewitt's national health exchange strategy leader. "The Aon Hewitt Corporate Exchange is a viable alternative for companies searching for solutions that can reduce cost, transfer risk to insurers, empower employees to make smarter health care choices and create a more sustainable health care benefit program."
Many recent reports have shown there's growing interest among both employers and employees in corporate exchanges. Aon Hewitt's 2012 Corporate Health Exchange survey of more than 562 employers shows more than 40 percent of employers expect to participate in a health care exchange in the next three-to-five years.
"Private health care exchanges enable employers to offer a wide range of health insurance options so their employees can choose a health care plan that is best suited for them and their families," says Elizabeth Winsor, chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare National Accounts.
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