Nearly 70% of employers say it is very important for an advisor to be independent of the private exchange they are considering, according to a report by the Private Exchange Evaluation Collaborative (PEEC). If employers could contribute towards employees’ coverage on the public exchange/marketplace in 2017 and 2018, 58% of employers say they would consider encouraging employees to get coverage through the exchange.
“The survey results indicate a strong interest in private exchanges, but also uncertainty about the benefits,” said Laurel Pickering, President & CEO, Northeast Business Group on Health. Many firms that have served as trusted employee benefit advisors are now vendors themselves; providing private exchange solutions to employers, said Christopher Goff, CEO & General Counsel, Employers Health Coalition.
Private exchanges could gain traction as an alternative to traditional employer sponsored benefit options over the next five years. The greatest barriers to private exchanges are their immaturity, the uncertainty about their long-term stability and the employer’s loss of flexibility, especially in tailoring benefit plan designs. Only 25% say that moving to a private exchange will save them money
Interest in private exchanges extends across all industry segments and employer size while the importance of exchange features varies among employers. For more information, visitwww.thepeec.com.
