Obamacare Exchanges: Trusted, Verified, Disliked

Remember Ronald Reagan’s principle for negotiating arms deals with the Soviet Union? “Trust, but verify.”

Well, Obamacare customers have trusted and verified the insurance policies they can buy on Obamacare’s exchanges, but they don’t like what they get. This according to a survey conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions:

Through this new buying experience, the exchanges are opening the door for a new generation of actively engaged consumers. Findings from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions 2015 Survey of US Health Care Consumers suggest that HIX customers differ from those with other sources of insurance coverage. They are more cost-conscious, price-sensitive, and focused on finding a plan that offers good value and fit. By the time they enroll, HIX customers have a better understanding of plan benefits and costs than individuals with coverage through employers, Medicaid, or Medicare. They are inclined to compare plans, providers, and services on price but show interest in quality measures, too. These early signs suggest that HIX enrollees are becoming savvy, informed consumers who are geared to shop around not just for health insurance, but also for health care services and products.

I actually think this is a good finding for the future of consumer-driven health care. Remember, we like the fact that individuals choose their own health insurance, instead of being forced to take what their employers offer. It is not surprising that Obamacare exchange enrollees are better “shoppers” than those of us who really have no real choice of health insurance, because we get what our HR departments decide.

What we don’t like is the federal regulation that goes with the Obamacare exchanges. This is a cloud with a silver lining.

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