Dive Brief:
- Private benefit exchanges in 2015 saw increased interest compared with previous years, meaning thousands of new lives added and several new options in available exchange products, according to Employee Benefits News.
- In the past plan year, enrollment in private health care exchanges doubled from 2014, reaching 6 million lives, according to Accenture, with most growth coming in the middle market.
- As for 2016, the Employee Benefit Adviser’s Private Benefit Exchange Index (created by EBN and Employee Benefit Adviser) reports private exchange growth increased for the sixth straight month in December, so the growth trend is expected to continue as 2016 unfolds.
Dive Insight:
Sharon Cunninghus, leader of Mercer’s private exchange, the Mercer Marketplace, told EBN that private exchange growth resulted from employers focusing on long-term benefit strategy, not short-term alternatives. She added that with healthcare costs trending upwards, many employers have run out of traditional options for cutting costs through benefit offerings.
Since the PBE index was launched in July, the eight operators participating in the PBE Index’s data collection effort report that more than 1,385 employers have moved workers to private exchanges. That meant an increase of 160,122 employees and 341,095 lives now being covered by benefit plans sold through the eight sites.
“The industry is waiting for the Fortune 500, Fortune 10 companies to jump on,” Alan Cohen, co-founder and chief strategy officer at exchange technology provider Liazon, told EBN. “We shouldn’t hold our breath.”
Even so, some large employers did take advantage of private exchanges in 2015, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which moved its 26,500 full-time active employees and their families to Towers Watson’s OneExchange on April 1, EBN reports.