Dive Brief:
- Kevin Counihan, former head of the Connecticut health insurance marketplace, has been tapped as the new CEO of Healthcare.gov, which will begin its second year of enrollment on November 15. Connecticut's marketplace is one of the most successful in the nation.
- Counihan's track record includes the launch of complex new coverage programs including Massachusetts' exchange in 2006 and a private exchange in California. He has also worked in the private insurance industry at Tufts Health Plan and Cigna.
- Counihan's professional background has primarily included working with a Democratic governor and legislature, so he will face a new challenge in his role working with the 36 state exchanges, some of which are openly hostile to the ACA insurance plans.
Dive insight:
At Healthcare.gov, Counihan will be responsible primarily for making sure that the technical problems that plagued the site in its early days don't return, as well as keeping enrollees satisfied and reaching out to people who are eligible but not covered--something he excelled at in Connecticut. Access Heath CT enrolled approximately 79,000 individuals through its exchange and extended coverage to 120,000 Medicaid candidates; according to surveys, about half of the people who gained new coverage were previously uninsured.
By choosing Counihan to head up Healthcare.gov in its second year, the administration is sending a signal that it intends for the site to be successful. Where there was previously no accountability for the site, there now is. And they have chosen a candidate with some serious marketing chops: In Connecticut, individual enrollment numbers were high primarily because Counihan worked with others on some unorthodox, yet effective, marketing strategies to increase enrollment. The state exchange staged events at Lil Wayne concerts and jazz festivals.
Allegedly, it was that willingness to be innovative that caught President Obama's eye: According to Counihan, an exchange official from another state that advertises its exchange on coasters in bars expressed embarrassment to the president about going into the bars to check on the campaign's progress.
"At which point the president said, 'Well, if Kevin can go to a Lil Wayne concert, you certainly should be able to go to a bar,'" Counihan said.