Study Says Wisconsin’s Health Care Exchange Will Be Competitive

A new study shows that the new federal exchange where health coverage will be sold online to Wisconsin residents appears to be fairly competitive.

Two large insurers will not sell coverage in Wisconsin through the new marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act: Humana and UnitedHealthcare. Fourteen other companies will use the exchange.

A look at where they offer insurance shows that 98.9 percent of consumers in Wisconsin have three or more different companies to choose from, according to a Citizen Action Wisconsin analysis done by Kevin Kane. In addition, 68.6 percent of consumers will have four or more insurance options.

While most of the insurers will be for profit, the Affordable Care Act also allows qualified co-ops. One such nonprofit will operate in southeastern Wisconsin. The Common Ground Health Care Cooperative will be run by members and CEO Bob De Vita.

“This is all about providing affordable health insurance to small businesses and individuals,” says De Vita. “Those individuals may be newly insured who are entrepreneurs, freelancers, independent contractors in essence – categories in our current insurance market that are not very well served.”

The report by Citizen Action of Wisconsin shows Madison and Fond du Lac will have the most insurers to choose from on the online marketplace with six options. Each company on the exchange is required to offer at least two federally designated coverage plans: a silver and a bronze.