As employers with 50 or more full-time employees prepare for the Affordable Care Act’s mandate to take effect in 2015, more privately run insurance exchanges will offer benefits, and consumers will become more cost-conscious, predicts Alan Cohen, chief strategy officer for private exchange firm Liazon. Transparency around health care costs will improve, says Ceci Connolly, managing director of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute. The Obama administration is likely to extend the March 31 deadline for getting insurance or paying a tax penalty, and it will promulgate more rules implementing the ACA, says Catamaran’s Ellen Nelson. USA Today (1/1)