Private exchanges generally have been more popular than their public counterparts among insurers and employers alike, but they may not be quite so good for consumers, according to new research.
HealthPocket, a website that compares and ranks health plans, found that two of the leading online private exchanges — Extend Health, described as the "largest private Medicare exchange," and eHealth, described as the "largest private health insurance exchange for individuals and families" — offer fewer options for consumers to consider compared to government plan finders.
Though gaps were also found in the government options, on average, only 41 percent of Medicare Advantage plans and 49 percent of Medicare Part D plans were found in the private exchanges compared to the federally-run medicare.gov.
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The private exchanges provided 34 percent of the options offered by the government for individual and family plans at healthcare.gov.
"Given the increasing role of both private and government exchanges in health plan decisions, consumers need to be aware of what they are — and are not — seeing online," said Steve Zaleznick, executive director for consumer strategy and development at HealthPocket. "The private sector has some work to do to keep up with the government in offering a more complete picture."
For its analysis, HealthPocket researchers compared the number of Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D and individual and family plan carriers and plans offered by the private vs. government exchanges for coverage in eight of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas.
The results weren't, though, uniform in favor of the government site inclusiveness: the federal individual and family plan carrier offerings lagged behind at least one of the private exchanges in three major metropolitan areas (Chicago, Dallas, and New York) with the number of HHS plan offerings lagging in one city (New York).
According to research from health consulting firm Mercer, 56 percent of employers are considering moving to this model for active or retired employees, tripling in number over the last year. Some major health care firms — including Mercer, Aon Hewitt and Willis — have opened a private exchange.
By 2017, an estimated 23 million people will obtain their insurance from the exchanges and 12 million will rely on the private marketplace, including private online exchanges, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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