GetInsured Launches Lean State-based Marketplace Model

By Casey Houser
Contributing Writer

One of the biggest changes in U.S. governmental policy as of the last decade is in the passing of the Affordable Care Act. Also known as Obamacare, ACA makes state-based health coverage mandatory for many U.S. citizens, and it allows states to either run their health exchanges through the federal government or through their own marketplaces.

States such as California, Idaho, Mississippi, and New Mexico have all chosen to operate their own exchanges and have worked with GetInsured, a provider of healthcare marketplace and call center services, to make those operations a reality. Recently, GetInsured announced its new Lean State-based Marketplace Model that is fully compliant with Healthcare.gov and can keep costs low for states that wish to change how their exchanges work.

GetInsured says its new product can keep up with the growing demand from states for custom software and can make installation of new software easy and at a low cost. Chini Krishnan, the co-founder and CEO of GetInsured, spoke in the company announcement about the link between state control of their own marketplaces and the positive end result for state citizens.

“We're seeing increasing interest from states wanting to build their own exchanges versus using the Federally Facilitated Marketplace,” Krishnan said. “State regulators recognize the benefit of being fully in control of one of the most important services they provide their citizens. With the IT investments in health insurance marketplaces over the past few years, building new SBMs no longer needs to be expensive or complicated. And states get a far better user experience for all stakeholders -- consumers, carriers, brokers, administrators -- which translates into more enrollments.”

GetInsured said it is able to launch its Lean Model in as few as 60 days. This can make it easier for states to quickly have an exchange up and running in time to meet their deadlines for open enrollment each year. GetInsured also indicated that it would be able to provide continuing support for any future changes mandated by state or federal government. The software and support company also expects its costs to be lower than those required for using the Federally Facilitated Marketplace.

Although they have that option, there is little need for states to customize their marketplaces. The Lean Model provides eligibility determination, plan shopping, enrollment, financial management, and many other features directly out of the box. GetInsured can also provide states with customer service support for their exchanges from both Phoenix and Atlanta call centers. With the open enrollment period for the 2015 year having recently come to an end, this new product could fit any states that want to change how they run their exchanges or possibly switch from the federal marketplace to a custom, state-run operation.