By Wikipedia definition, a health insurance exchange is an organized marketplace for the purchase of health insurance set up as a governmental or quasi-governmental entity to help insurers comply with consumer protections, compete in cost-efficient ways, and to facilitate the expansion of insurance coverage to more people.
This is a complete new proposal or a resolution that needs to be obeyed by all the states in the country. A new entity is required to create by every state—health exchange. With number of recent healthcare reforms asking for a marketplace,
the challenge lies with every state to build an exchange that can provide information as well as offer affordable health insurance plans to the residents.
The main idea behind creating these health exchanges is to provide more organized and competitive options of health insurance plans to the consumers, who are mandated to buy a health insurance policy else face penalty.
It is expected that a competitive environment will be created in the health insurance industry where consumers would be able to shop around and get affordable prices for various types of health insurance plans.
Purpose and Function of an Exchange
Information dissemination, administrative ease and competitive environment are the chief purposes that run behind the creation of health exchanges. It goes without saying that when these exchanges will be created, there will be some additional benefits that the consumers and states would enjoy. At the same time, some challenges in operations would also prop. But overall, it is expected that health exchanges would be able to bring a whole lot of changes in the way consumer buy health insurance and also the affordability of health plans.
Below are some of the main purposes and functions that health exchanges are supposed to perform:
1. To offer a healthcare choices to the consumers and providing competitive offers.
2. Information dissemination to the consumers to make them more learned about how to buy health insurance plans.
3. To create an administrative mechanism for enrollment of the consumers and health insurance companies.
4. To offer portability of coverage where it can be de-linked from employment.
5. To facilitate changes in the rules governing how insurers sell coverage.
All these functions and purposes look easy but, of course, they require tremendous amount of planning and execution by each and every step. This is where some software development companies or technology healthcare companies of great help. In fact, this generates tremendous amount of business opportunity for companies who can assist states in creating health exchanges.
In lieu of such opportunities, lots of companies are offering different types of solutions. hCentive is one of such companies offer WebInsure for States.
What is WebInsure for States?
WebInsure for States is a reform compliant State health insurance exchange platform created to provide technical solutions to the requirement. Every state in the US needs to comply with the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These requirements need every state to launch health exchanges allowing eligible consumers to search for, choose and buy health insurance, and small businesses to pool together to reduce their insurance costs.
At the same time, the HHS requires states to meet two deadlines regarding the launch of a state-run health insurance exchange:
1. “Readiness determination” deadline of January 1, 2013 and
2. Exchange “Go live” deadline of January 1, 2014.
It is here that hCentive’s WenInsure State helps. It helps the states to comply with the timelines of these requirements.
WebInsure can:
1. Launch and operate the health exchange that offers help to the state residents to find an affordable health plan.
2. Launch and operate the health exchange that facilitates searching and buying process of health plans for small businesses in accordance with the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP).
3. Launch and operate the health exchange that provides simple, easy-to-understand experience designed for individuals.
4. Launch and operate the health exchange which reduces administrative complexity and is cost effective.
It is great relief for states that companies are providing such comprehensive solutions. Perhaps other companies like, ehealth, etc. are also gearing for the challenge.
Creating health insurance exchanges is not an easy task. At some point of time, it may also require collaboration of different companies offering diverse range of services.
