The Private Exchange Coalition will promote shared industry standards and best practices, and increase awareness of the powerful ways private exchanges improve the selection, administration and use of employee benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 24, 2015 – The Private Exchange Coalition (PEC) has announced its formation to help guide the rapidly growing private exchange industry. The PEC will serve as a forum for those in the industry to share ideas and best practices, and increase awareness of the powerful ways in which private exchanges improve the selection, administration and use of employee benefits – while empowering consumers at every point in the decision-making process.

Against the backdrop of health reform – and with shared goals to eliminate waste, provide greater transparency and increase accessibility to health insurance and other benefits – the PEC aims to help establish private exchanges as a long-term solution for enabling consumers to easily evaluate and select employee benefits that best meet their health care, economic and lifestyle needs.

“PEC members share a common goal – to enhance the insurance and benefits experience by bringing the most modern tools and technologies to employers and consumers,” said Simeon Schindelman, CEO of Bloom Health and PEC co-chair. “This coalition provides a collaborative platform for industry-leading private exchanges to expedite industry transformation and connect consumers to the insurance products they require. We are thrilled to work in-hand with other PEC members to promote awareness of the value and shape the future direction of private exchanges.”

“Private exchanges represent a fundamental shift in insurance distribution channels that allow for consumerism to flourish and issuers and brokers to deliver increased value,” said Rich McKeown, CEO of Leavitt Partners, a health care intelligence firm. The PEC engaged Leavitt Partners to convene and advise the coalition and has selected its five founding members based on different market vantage points:

  • Array Health – modernizes the shopping and enrollment process for consumers and reduces the administrative burden for employers by applying e-commerce principles.
  • Bloom Health – inspires consumers through a combination of education and technology tools, giving them confidence to take ownership of their benefit selections, while improving the business results of partners including insurers, brokers and employers.
  • ConnectedHealth – offers customized insurance plan recommendations and a comprehensive portfolio management tool to help employees and individuals achieve better health and financial security.
  • Connecture– provides web-based information systems used to create health insurance marketplaces that offer a personalized shopping experience for health insurance and relevant employee benefits.
  • Softheon– offers solutions for interacting with Federal and State Health Insurance Exchange Marketplaces, streamlining activities for consumers to make the process easier and more efficient.

The need for an authoritative body to provide information and counsel to consumers, employers, insurers and policy makers, and to develop and share data standards across the marketplace, has been underscored by recent data that suggests private exchanges will outpace enrollment in public marketplaces by 2018.

“With private exchanges we have the ability to eliminate many of the complexities that historically made the health insurance purchasing process more difficult and costly than it needs to be,” said Ryan Howells, vice president at Connecture and PEC co-chair. “This coalition will help foster the dialogue required to ensure the interoperability of relevant systems and adoption of shared standards while simultaneously presenting employers, brokers, and consumers as a trusted source prepared to address questions on private exchanges.”

About the Private Exchange Coalition:
The PEC is founded by private exchange companies with the express purposes of increasing literacy relative to private exchanges, establishing a common voice to advocate on behalf of the industry and developing data interoperability standards. To learn more about the PEC, visit www.PECoalition.com.