Four states are doing a better job than the federal government in running their Obamacare insurance marketplaces, a consumer advocate coalition has concluded.
Healthcare.gov ranks below the marketplaces run by Kentucky, Washington state, Connecticut and California when evaluated for the level of ease and clarity they offer people trying to decide which plan to buy, according to a report being released Friday by Clear Choices.
The group judged the federal-run marketplace, called healthcare.gov, and the dozen state-run marketplaces based on 11 criteria, like whether the websites provide an out-of-pocket cost calculator or allow shoppers to compare plan benefits side-by-side.
Kentucky’s Kynect marketplace, now under a threat of destruction by newly elected Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, got the highest marks, followed by Washington state’s Healthplanfinder, Connecticut’s Access Health and Covered California. The four states were among the first to start constructing their marketplaces when Congress passed President Obama’s healthcare law in 2010.
At the other end of the spectrum, New York State of Health came in dead last for failing to provide many key features that could assist customers in the often complex process of choosing among health plans covering different benefits and charging different premiums, deductibles and co-payments.
Massachusetts’ Health Connector, Connect for Health Colorado, Your Health Idaho and Minnesota’s Mnsure also appeared near the bottom of the list, while the District of Columbia, Maryland and Rhode Island were ranked near the middle.
Clear Choices was started in April by former Capitol Hill Republican staffer Joel White, who leads the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, a group that advocates for repealing some parts of the Affordable Care Act and altering other parts to make it more consumer-friendly.
White will release the report Friday, with staffers for House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, a representative from AARP and other health advocates.
Healthcare.gov’s fifth-place showing may be viewed as good news for the website, after it started in 2013 amid major technical failures that proved an embarrassment to the Obama administration and massively slowed the initial rate of sign-ups.
The website has worked much better in subsequent years, this year enrolling 2.8 million Americans in health plans so far, the Department of Health and Human Services reported this week. The current enrollment season began Nov. 1 and ends Jan. 31.
But consumers’ difficulties in shopping for health coverage has remained a top concern as advocates for the healthcare law try to maximize signups this year. There’s wide acknowledgement that understanding insurance can be confusing since there are so many factors to consider and how plans will work isn’t always immediately clear.
“In recent years, a broadening array of plan benefit designs, featuring complex mixes of premiums, deductibles, consumer cost sharing, formularies and ‘narrow’ provider networks, have raised the stakes for consumers in choosing plans that fit their unique medical, financial and geographic circumstances,” the report says.
Clear Choices says the marketplaces should provide specific tools allowing shoppers to easily view, compare and understand their plan options, identify their expected total costs, determine whether a plan covers their doctors and medications and be able to complete the enrollment process quickly.
