Businesses that went through second-year renewals on the Aon Active Health Exchange saw average annual health cost increases of 2.6 percent, the company reported Wednesday. That's compared to the industry average of 6.5 to 8 percent growth reported this year.
Aon is the only fully insured private exchange built for large companies.
"The Aon Active Health Exchange continues to deliver on its promise of providing a better way for many companies to offer health benefits through cost savings and engaged consumers," Cary Grace, CEO of Aon Exchange Solutions, said in a statement. "With three years of consistently positive results, our model is bending the trend curve of health care spending for companies, while delivering more choice, affordable health care and a great experience to their employees."
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Aon credits consumer-like elements and transparency for the success of its exchange. A post-enrollment survey conducted by a third party found that:
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Ninety-seven percent of individuals completed enrollment through the exchange website.
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Eighty-seven percent like being able to choose among multiple carriers.
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Seventy-nine percent of employees said they had a good understanding of how they share the cost of group medical coverage with their employer.
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Nearly 80 percent of consumers who rated their medical insurance carrier gave it a four- or five-star rating, with five being the highest score.
The most important factors in selecting a coverage level are:
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Price (34 percent)
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Desire to choose a plan that offered coverage similar to their current plan (20 percent)
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Coverage that offers the best level of medical benefits for them (18 percent)
The most important criteria for choosing an insurance carrier are:
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Lowest-cost carrier for their selected coverage level (35 percent)
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Network of doctors (23 percent)
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Carriers with which they had a good past experience (11 percent)
"For the past three years, our enrollment patterns have reflected purchasing behaviors similar to what you see in other consumer-based retail markets," said Ken Sperling, Aon's National Health Exchange Strategy Leader. "While most individuals migrated toward a plan that was close to what they had before, there were still a meaningful number who chose to buy richer plans for increased coverage or who bought down in terms of coverage to secure a lower premium."
He interprets the findings as showing that most consumers are happy with the decisions they made during the first year of enrollment.
"People moved around as prices changed, which is exactly what we expected in a consumer-based, retail marketplace," Sperling said. "But when price was not a driver, most consumers stayed where they were, both in terms of plans and insurance companies, even though they had the ability to easily switch. This leads us to believe that they understood the choices they made in the first year of the exchange and were happy with their decisions."
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Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
