Dive Brief:
- Accenture has released a report estimating that 6 million people enrolled through private health insurance exchanges for their 2015 employer-sponsored benefits—about twice the number that enrolled in 2014.
- Accenture's data indicate that midsize employers (those with 100 to 2,500 employees) are the primary new adopters of private health exchanges.
- Accenture predicts that enrollment in private exchanges will continue to increase, reaching 12 million in 2016, 22 million in 2017, 40 million in 2018 and ultimately surpassing the state and federal exchanges.
Dive Insight:
Accenture believes several factors will catalyze enrollment growth in private exchanges through 2018, according to Rich Birhanzel, managing director for Accenture Health Administration Services. "This is especially true as the market matures, employers gain more control of benefit design and evidence continues mounting on the tangible benefits of the model," Birhanzel said in a prepared statement.
Those factors include Accenture's findings that employers are not dropping coverage as initially forecast and will likely be seeking a compelling alternative; the looming penalties for "Cadillac" Plans beginning in 2018; continued investments in private exchange technology solutions; and looming mandates and compliance requirements that may drive employers to adopt new models for managing benefits administration.
Some analysts note that the new projected growth increments actually represent a slow-down from last year's report. As Chas Roades, Chief Research Officer at The Advisory Board tweeted on Wednesday morning, last year's projected pace was 1 million, 9 million, 19 million, 30 million, 40 million. At this year's estimates of 12 million, 22 million and 40 million, Roades remarks: "That's a pretty big leap in 2017-2018. All depends on the Caddy tax."