Dive Brief:
- Health insurer trade association America's Health Insurance Plans and consumer advocacy group National Consumers League are launching MyHealthPlan.guide, an online, interactive tool designed to help patients better understand health insurance.
- It contains information on open season for employer-sponsored coverage, open enrollment in the ACA marketplaces and Medicare, as well as additional insights about certain products and benefits.
- The site was timed to launch just before open enrollment on the exchanges begins on November 1.
Dive Insight:
The different options for health insurance plans can be confusing. AHIP pointed to a March state analysis from from Rice University that showed more than 42% of consumers in Texas who bought their own health plans from 2013 through 2015 did not fully comprehend them.
This is somewhat of an unlikely partnership, as noted by Politico. AHIP has had a rough few years and several insurers have defected from the organization. Partnering with the National Consumers League can help the trade association connect directly with consumers and demonstrate the value of being knowledgeable about coverage.
The partnership is also beneficial to NCL. By working with insurers, the consumer advocacy group gives itself leverage when it needs to act on behalf of consumers.
AHIP argued patients are more active now in healthcare decision-making processes than ever before, and this trend is a "key part of the movement toward value-based healthcare delivery models."