Could This New HHS Education Effort Hurt Agents?

[AllenChicago]

HHS's Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the Healthcare.gov website is being beefed up to educate the public about health insurance...how it works, deductibles, subsidies, and more.

Visitors to healthcare.gov can now "start an account" where they will be kept abreast of insurance and exchange subjects that can personally affect them.

Story: HHS starts features to help consumers learn insurance

I stopped short of creating a Username/Password, but once visitors enter all of this information, it can be used to..well, let your insurance agent imagination go to work.

It's probably no big deal if they do siphon off a few million enrollees from agents, because there's plenty to go around. Right?
ac

 

[somarco]

AC, I would think a former covert agent would have no problem enrolling and using one of your alter ego's.

 

[ABC]

We all know if someone is actual reading HHS publication and not in the industry, they should be.

In my state of Indiana 60% of the resident will qualify for subsidies.
Most residents are not reading what HHS has to say.

 

[SecureHealth1]

I look at it the same as medicare.gov, everyone has access to that site and the average senior hates it, its so confusing people throw up their hands. To me its better,send the consumer to a government website, confuse the hell out of them and then they will be begging for an agents help lol..

 

[AllenChicago]

People will read the HHS brochures in Walgreens, at the mall, etc., if they have "GET YOUR OBAMACARE $$$$!" printed boldly across the front.

They then go to the healthcare.gov website, and register to see what it's all about. After being registered, the prospect will be fed a steady stream of hints and enticements. Uncle Sam will become the AGENT. On October 1st Agent Sam will send this new, trusting prospect a link to go open their treasure chest and apply for coverage.

Insurance companies like this method cause there will be no commission paid. It's almost as if HHS and the Insurers have joined forces to combat the "greedy and unnecessary" insurance agents.
-ac

 

[ctg]

Who are the trusting prospects going to blame when things go wrong? I almost think the carriers still want us to be a sh**-screen to defect complaints.

 

[Yagents]

You guys need to stop the fear mongering, clients could do the same thing for the past 10 years by going to E-health, and I still built a solid book giving solid advice. The gov't made it more complicated, not less.

 

[stuy119]

I've explained to the same clients, year after year, what a deductible and co-insurance is and how you meet your out-of-pocket maximum. They keep asking - that won't stop if the government puts out a glossary on a website.

 

[bluediamond]

I have been explaining for months this subject and explaining to people to go through an agent, because they will become their own agent and receive very little help if they go direct and end up with a mess on their hands. Hope it worked.

 

[AllenChicago]

I've explained to the same clients, year after year, what a deductible and co-insurance is and how you meet your out-of-pocket maximum. They keep asking - that won't stop if the government puts out a glossary on a website.

You're 100% spot-on, Stuy119. The way the government words things, an explanation of "how insurance works", will indeed confuse most consumers even further. Particularly where they try explaining the various prescription levels.

My concern when I first read the article and visited the new pages at healthcare.gov was that people woud visit the site, register, get on the drip-drip Obama$$$ e-mail list, and end up enrolling directly at healthcare.gov, using the free-chat and/or 800-helpline for help.

I'm sure that will still happen with a couple million people, but with a pie this big, we can lose those enrollees without worry.
ac