The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) hosted a briefing on health insurance exchanges. Public health insurance exchanges are online, health insurance marketplaces set up by the U.S. federal government, and by certain states, where individuals and small businesses can shop for, compare, and purchase private health insurance.

Although the consumer experience shopping for health insurance on the public exchanges was supposed to be akin to using Kayak or Amazon.com, many consumers faced massive problems, including technical challenges, with eligibility and enrollment at their launch. Taxpayers have footed the bill for websites that have been available in the private sector for decades.

The CAHC briefing explored key challenges and limitations of existing exchanges, and new policy approaches to let the private sector take on some of the exchange functions currently exclusively provided by federal and state governments.

Panelists:

• John Desser, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, eHealth
• Allen Gutierrez, National Executive Director, The Latino Coalition
• Jeff Smedsrud, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Healthcare.com, Inc.
• Katie Vlietstra, Vice President for Government Relations and Public Affairs, National Association for the Self-Employed
• Joel White, President, Council for Affordable Health Coverage