Notes From Kellogg’s Health Care Symposium

The following article was originally sourced from the post “State of Exchanges” found on Kellogg’s News & Events site.

More than 413,000 Kentucky residents enrolled for health care coverage via kynect, the state’s health benefit exchange, last year. This was an impressive result given the states rank among the worst in the nation for health outcomes. Carrie Banahan, kynect Executive Director, spoke at about these health care figures and more at a conference cohosted by the Kellogg School of Business and Get Covered Illinois, Illinois’ health insurance marketplace. The symposium featured the executive directors of seven state-based exchanges along with top leadership from two additional exchanges. 

Here are five big takeaways from the conference:

1. Identify strong champions and leaders

Since its inception into American policy, support for the Affordable Care Act fell along party lines. Banahan attributes the success of a Democrat-spearheaded program in heavily Republican Kentucky to the advocacy of Gov. Steve Beshear, along with business, employer and carrier partnerships.

2. Let the why inform the how

Technology builds remain a critical component of online marketplaces. However,Christine Ferguson of Rhode Island’s HealthSource RI cautioned attendees not to forget the ACA’s core mission, and that is to improve quality and “bend the cost” curve of health care. She said exchanges should strive to provide transparency about insurance pricing in order to drive consumer competition and ultimately lower costs.

3. Combine programs to manage “churn”

Several states implemented an “integrated eligibility engine” which enabled them to seamlessly direct enrollees to Medicaid options or to private-sector plans (with income-based subsidies), as appropriate. This integration also should help to ensure coverage continuity as people cycle in and out of Medicaid eligibility owing to changes in income and family status.

4. Go where the customers are

Relating to potential health care recipients and becoming available to them helped the Health Benefit Exchange Authority build a young and desirable insurance risk pool In Washington DC. 39 percent of individuals who signed up for private coverage in the District of Columbia’s exchange last year ranged from ages 26 to 34, according to Executive Director Mila Kofman.

5. Plan for high touch

Customer service demands took some exchanges by surprise in the first round. Inadequate staffing and phone lines had some marketplaces scrambling to handle unexpectedly high volume. 

“We didn’t anticipate the number of ‘touches’ people would need,” said Richard Onizuka of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange in Washington state. “We thought a quarter of people would need assistance but it turned out to be more like half.”

regions: Washington, DC

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