Just over a quarter of the potential pool for small business health insurance has been penetrated by the industry, and that number appears to be declining. But that also means there's new opportunity for carriers seeking small business health insurance clients may be just around the corner.
A study by Mark Farrah Associates reviewed public data on small businesses and found that the vast majority don't offer coverage to employees. Farrah said that small groups with health insurance policies fell from 1.546 million in 2012 to 1.453 in 2013, a decline of about 93,000. "Nonetheless, this sizeable market remains an attractive business target for commercial health insurers," Farrah noted.
One cause for optimism: The Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP. This should have launched last fall when the public exchanges opened, but its opening was delayed until this November. Farrah called SHOP "a potential game-changer in the small group market."
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
