Looks like California is at the forefront of saving a consumers access to professional agents, with a little HHS nudge.
California Marketplace May Require Insurers To Pay Agent Commissions | Kaiser Health News
California’s health exchange may require its health plans to pay sales commissions to insurance agents to keep insurers from shunning the sickest and costliest patients.
Covered California is working on a proposal that would force the plans to pay commissions effective next year, said Executive Director Peter Lee. The proposed rules could apply to regular and special enrollment periods, and would leave the specific commission amount or percentage up to insurers, he said.
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Lee said it has become apparent to him that some insurers are trying to avoid sicker customers by slashing their payouts to agents.
“When one health plan says during special enrollment, for instance, we won’t pay commissions, they are hoping insurance agents won’t sell them and they will sell sick people into another plan,” Lee said. “We aren’t going to let the old games of risk selection happen under the Affordable Care Act.”
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This issue began attracting more attention in November after industry giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced substantial losses on exchanges across the country and pulled back on marketing, including payments to agents.
Lee said he immediately contacted UnitedHealth, which just joined Covered California this year, and advised the company to keep paying commissions in the state.
A spokesman for UnitedHealth said the company didn’t make any changes to broker commissions in California this year. It has said it will decide by midyear whether to continue selling in Obamacare marketplaces.
Lee also weighed in at the federal level in a letter last month. He urged Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell to consider setting a minimum commission and to forbid divergence in compensation between open and special enrollment.
The issue is significant because, despite all the hype about government-run websites making the purchase of health insurance easier, many consumers still turn to an insurance agent for help. In Covered California, insurance agents accounted for more than 40 percent of enrollment last year, compared to the roughly 30 percent of people who signed up on their own online. There were 14,624 certified insurance agents working with the exchange as of last month.
California Marketplace May Require Insurers To Pay Agent Commissions | Kaiser Health News
California’s health exchange may require its health plans to pay sales commissions to insurance agents to keep insurers from shunning the sickest and costliest patients.
Covered California is working on a proposal that would force the plans to pay commissions effective next year, said Executive Director Peter Lee. The proposed rules could apply to regular and special enrollment periods, and would leave the specific commission amount or percentage up to insurers, he said.
-------------
Lee said it has become apparent to him that some insurers are trying to avoid sicker customers by slashing their payouts to agents.
“When one health plan says during special enrollment, for instance, we won’t pay commissions, they are hoping insurance agents won’t sell them and they will sell sick people into another plan,” Lee said. “We aren’t going to let the old games of risk selection happen under the Affordable Care Act.”
---------------
This issue began attracting more attention in November after industry giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced substantial losses on exchanges across the country and pulled back on marketing, including payments to agents.
Lee said he immediately contacted UnitedHealth, which just joined Covered California this year, and advised the company to keep paying commissions in the state.
A spokesman for UnitedHealth said the company didn’t make any changes to broker commissions in California this year. It has said it will decide by midyear whether to continue selling in Obamacare marketplaces.
Lee also weighed in at the federal level in a letter last month. He urged Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell to consider setting a minimum commission and to forbid divergence in compensation between open and special enrollment.
The issue is significant because, despite all the hype about government-run websites making the purchase of health insurance easier, many consumers still turn to an insurance agent for help. In Covered California, insurance agents accounted for more than 40 percent of enrollment last year, compared to the roughly 30 percent of people who signed up on their own online. There were 14,624 certified insurance agents working with the exchange as of last month.
