NBC Talks to Joel Ario on Future of Health Insurance Exchanges
"Health Reform Turns 3, With the Hardest Part Yet to Come"
NBC News
March 24, 2013 – NBC News interviewed Manatt's Joel Ario, a managing director with Manatt Health Solutions, on the future of health insurance exchanges.
As reported by NBC News, the next health reform deadline is October 1, when states are required to have the new health insurance exchanges up and running. The federal government has barely met each prior deadline, particularly due to obstacles such as the Supreme Court hearing and the sequester. The Department of Health and Human Services has also had to wait for states to decide if they will run their own exchanges. At last count, 26 states opted not to run their own.
Though the next deadline is looming and exchange openings will come down to the wire, industry insiders agree that the exchanges will shape the future of health insurance coverage.
"In time I think you'll see this market evolve," said Ario. "The winners are the ones who will make it as simple and easy to navigate as possible."
Although about 7 million people will initially buy insurance on the public exchanges, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Ario said employers will start moving to exchange-style marketplaces as well. And while states and the federal government are the largest forces running exchanges, private groups are also designing and marketing exchanges – to states, public employers and to companies.