Philadelphia Inquirer Quotes Ario on Health Insurance Exchanges
"An Early Look at Health Exchanges in Pa. and N.J."
Philadelphia Inquirer
August 11, 2013 - Joel Ario, a managing director with Manatt Health Solutions, spoke with the Philadelphia Inquirer on preparations for the October 1 opening of enrollment in Health Insurance Exchanges for Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The newspaper reports that, when the exchanges do open for business, Pennsylvanians will find as many as 15 insurers competing for their business.
"Pennsylvania looks pretty good to me," Ario told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "All the traditional competitors, the significant players, are competing in Pennsylvania, and that is a good thing."
New Jersey submitted the names of the companies competing on its exchange to HHS last week but has not released them to the public.
And, though those having difficulty filling out an application will have access to a "navigator" trained to help, the publication says that many expect problems at the start.
"It will get better over time," Ario said. "The first iteration of the exchanges is already going to give you a fairly high level of standardization. Two silver plans are worth exactly the same amount to the average person. So I can do an apple-to-apple comparison."