Modern Healthcare Looks to Joel Ario for Two Articles on Exchange Launch Readiness
"Consumers Could See High Cost Sharing with Exchange Plans, Analysts Warn" and "Reform Update: Exchange Preparedness Varies in GOP-led States"
Modern Healthcare
September 26, 2013 - Modern Healthcare interviewed Manatt's Joel Ario, a managing director with Manatt Health Solutions, for two articles focusing on the October 1 launch of health insurance exchanges.
In "Consumers Could See High Cost Sharing with Exchange Plans, Analysts Warn," Modern Healthcare reports that HHS recently released findings on exchanges that suggest Americans will have more choices, greater competition and better value when they shop for their 2014 insurance policies on the exchanges, which will launch in January. New competition has led to lower prices, with the average plan premium coming in about 16% lower than originally estimated.
Ario said that the HHS report reinforces that premium rates on the bronze and silver plans are better than had been expected and are especially low in some states, such as Minnesota. Ario added that there are "going to be some good deals" out there for young people who don't have a lot of health needs who opt for bronze plans. But he also tempered that good news with another factor that consumers should consider.
"People consistently underestimate their cost-sharing," Ario said. "There will probably be people buying bronze plans thinking they will not have cost-sharing, and it will be more than they thought."
In "Reform Update: Exchange Preparedness Varies in GOP-led States," the publication says that although HHS reports there will be broad consumer choice and lower-than-expected premiums across the country, officials in Republican-led states with federally facilitated exchanges are experiencing widely varying levels of competition and preparedness in advance of the October 1 start of open enrollment. Many Republican leaders in these states are opposed to the healthcare reform law and the exchanges, which could affect preparedness and enrollment. Some states have prohibited involvement of state officials in exchange implementation and have put up barriers to enrollment activities. Alabama, for example, will forward all questions to HHS related to the state exchange.
Ario said that states' level of consumer assistance will have some effect on enrollment. But he predicted it would be "generally at the margins since everyone will have access to the online site and call-center services."
"More (assistance) is better, though, especially in year one," Ario said.
Read "Consumers Could See High Cost Sharing with Exchange Plans, Analysts Warn" here.
Read "Reform Update: Exchange Preparedness Varies in GOP-led States" here.