In an article in the February issue of Health Affairs journal, William Kramer, executive director for national health policy at the Pacific Business Group on Health in San Francisco, discusses the potential long-term role the public health insurance exchanges could play in helping larger companies manage their health care benefits. In the second part of this interview, Business Finance asks Kramer about how the future with health insurance exchanges might play out and the CFO’s role in evaluating the potential opportunities these exchanges create.
Business Finance: In your article, you discuss a number of scenarios for employer-provided health benefits once the exchanges are up and running. Which of these scenarios is most likely to play out?
William Kramer: If I were a betting person, I would not bet a whole lot on any one scenario. I would spread my bets at this point. There are a number of plausible options available to most employers. Many employers are doing some scenario planning so that they are prepared as the situation develops. If it goes down this track, we should do X. If it goes down another track, we do Y. The best planning focuses on potential scenarios so that employers can decide what to do in each situation before it happens. As soon as the path becomes clear, the employer needs to have plans in place so that those plans can be executed quickly. I am not encouraging anyone to sit back and wait. Companies should be doing the analysis and scenario planning now because potential changes are large and the opportunities are great depending on which path opens up.
http://businessfinancemag.com/article/qa-future-role-health-insurance-exchanges-part-2-0228
Hat tip: Business Finance Magazine
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