More employers are starting to sniff around the private insurance exchanges that have cropped up over the past few years, but the exchanges are still not fully understood by employers and, as a result, aren't yet being widely accepted by them.

A bit of research conducted by Tech Validate on behalf of benefits plan management and health care compliance vendor HighRoads tells us that 50 percent of employers are in some stage of private exchange evaluation. But they are more interested in adopting a self-insured model, as evidenced by the 71 percent of respondents who reported that they are on the point of adopting such a model.

Why are the private exchanges facing resistance to adoption? The researchers said that employers don't yet fully grasp how they work and how they will save them money. In addition, half of those surveyed "were unsure of how private exchanges would impact recruiting and/or retention," meaning they aren't sure current and potential employees will see them as a valuable benefit.