This article was originally published with co-author George Kalogeropoulos, CEO of HealthSherpa, on LinkedIn. You’ll be hard-pressed to find somebody with ties to employer-based benefits who doesn’t have a visceral reaction to the term “private exchange.” Sadly, this reaction was largely earned over almost a decade of huge expectations but sometimes under-delivered or ahead-of-their-time options … Continue Reading
Author Archives
shandonfowler
State of ACA Coverage: Opportunities and Challenges for Individual Market Open Enrollment 2019
This article was originally published with co-author George Kalogeropoulos, CEO of HealthSherpa, on LinkedIn. Several weeks ago, we shared our views with The Hill regarding challenges and opportunities facing the individual market in 2019 and beyond. In this edition of HealthSherpa Research, we expand upon those views with additional context and practical solutions for the coming OE … Continue Reading
Are Strong Payer Earnings Evidence of a Calming Individual Market?
This article was originally published with co-author George Kalogeropoulos, CEO of HealthSherpa, on LinkedIn. With apologies to Mark Twain for paraphrasing perhaps the most paraphrased phrase in history, the rumors of the ACA Marketplace’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Certainly there is still much to be concerned about. We wrote about those concerns for The Hill and have also … Continue Reading
Understanding CMS’s Final Rules for ACA Marketplaces in 2019
This article was originally published with co-author George Kalogeropoulos, CEO of HealthSherpa, on LinkedIn. “In this final rule, we…focus on enhancing the role of States in these programs and providing States with additional flexibilities, reducing unnecessary regulatory burden on stakeholders, empowering consumers, and improving affordability.” That statement, in a nutshell, is what is reflected throughout … Continue Reading
The Hill: Here’s how to address the inevitable challenges to the individual market
This op-ed for The Hill is part of an ongoing collaboration with George Kalogeropoulos, CEO of HealthSherpa, on strategic health care topics, especially those pertaining to the individual, ACA-subsidized health insurance market and part-time workforces. Another opportunity to stabilize the individual market came and went last month, with the passage of the omnibus spending bill for 2018. President … Continue Reading
Why Employers Should Guide Non-Benefits-Eligible Employees to Public Sources of Health Coverage
This article was originally published with co-author George Kalogeropoulos, CEO of HealthSherpa, on LinkedIn. If ever there was a topic and industry that doesn’t benefit from binary thinking, it’s the U.S. healthcare system. Far too often, we find ourselves treating multifaceted issues as if there are only two available paths: employer vs. government; eligible vs. … Continue Reading
The Four C’s that Will Drive Success (or Failure) for the Amazon/Berkshire-Hathaway/JPMorganChase Partnership
Has it been surprising how much we’ve all talked about, and wanted to talk more about, the partnership between Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorganChase (ABJ for short) on healthcare? In a way, yes. Such wonkishness usually doesn’t capture the public interest with such staying power. Yet, when you have two guys who’ve been Richest Person … Continue Reading
HR Dive: Does Amazon alliance signal employers will finally get serious about healthcare costs?
But Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan have name recognition, most notably Amazon for its reputation as a disruptor, Fowler said. To most observers, it’s no surprise that big-name employers are now loudly demanding a space at the healthcare negotiation table. “For the past couple of decades, employers haven’t really used their leverage or they used … Continue Reading
Imagining a Post-Employer-Mandate (and Coverage) World
After a year of false starts on “repeal-and-replace,” rarely a day passes now that some action isn’t taken on healthcare reform. After the Individual Mandate zero-out surprisingly made it into tax reform at year-end, we’re already on to considering association health plans and work requirements for Medicaid. Yet, the largest single segment of health insurance coverage in the U.S. — … Continue Reading
Employee Benefit Adviser: The year in regulation: ACA remains, GOP tax bill succeeds
It came to the surprise of many when the repeal did not occur. With so much uncertainty within the Republican Party, not one healthcare proposal could be agreed upon to replace the ACA. “President Trump’s promise to repeal it on day one was always more bluster than reality,” says Shan Fowler, owner and principal of … Continue Reading