|
 Kynect, which is Kentucky's marketplace, and the
Rhode Island Health Benefits Exchange have had separate talks about
2015 with health insurers that could opt to join the online
marketplaces set up under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform
law. Kentucky also expects an expansion of physician networks
available within current plans.
Increased competition would increase consumer choices and tend to
put downward pressure on health insurance cost trends. It could also
help ensure the future of Obama's Affordable Care Act, which depends
on the success of new online marketplaces.
Kentucky and Rhode Island are among states with the most successful
Obamacare launches. Obama himself highlighted Kentucky's performance
in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Each state also has only a small number of insurers. Kynect
currently has three insurers and has enrolled more than 44,000
people in private plans since its October 1 launch. The Rhode Island
exchange, with two insurers for individual consumers, has enrolled
about 12,000 people.
It was not clear whether more competition would be in the offing for
other states with their own exchanges or the federal government,
which runs a marketplace for 36 states that have chosen not to
operate their own.
"We expect our number of carriers to certainly grow and our networks
to become more robust," said Audrey Haynes, a one-time aide to
former President Bill Clinton who is now secretary of the Kentucky
Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Christine Ferguson, director of the Rhode Island exchange, predicted
an expansion would result from insurer interest in individuals and
small-business employees. "We are definitely in conversations with
other carriers to come in. And I think we'll be successful with
that," she said.
Both women were speaking to reporters at an event hosted by the
nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which tracks healthcare
trends.
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Healthcare marketplaces, which began operating in all 50 states and
the District of Columbia on January 1, allow consumers who lack
coverage to purchase private health insurance, often at federally
subsidized rates. But a botched autumn launch of the federal marketplace and
lagging enrollment among younger adults have raised concerns about
the success of the marketplaces, with critics predicting big
increases in costs down the road.
Haynes said officials in Kentucky had spoken to managed care plans
owned by larger national insurance companies. "We've heard that they
want to come into the market," she said.
California, which operates the nation's largest state-run healthcare
exchange, has 13 insurers and has enrolled more than 625,000 people
through private plans since October 1.
The state has barred new insurers from entering its marketplace in
2015, but officials say they are confident about the current roster
of insurers.
"All of the plans with Covered California are really recognizing
that this is a long-term play and are looking at things like benefit
design, how do we improve the benefits," Peter Lee, executive
director of the California exchange, told the same forum.
(Reporting by David Morgan; editing by
Tom Brown)
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