Nearly all doctors prefer that their patients have health insurance, and one of the ways doctors can help increase their insured base of patients is by better explaining the benefits of the federal health insurance exchange. People who do not have access to health insurance through their jobs or spouses still have plenty of options, but that doesn’t mean they take advantage of them.
The top reason people remain uninsured is because of the high cost of health insurance. In one survey from 2021, 64% of uninsured adults said they did not buy health insurance because of the expense. However, another reason people opt out of health insurance is because of confusion – 51% said they have a hard time understanding at least one part of their coverage.
This is an area where doctors can help. By working with patients to understand the federal healthcare exchange, patients may feel more empowered to sign up and pay for the service. These are some ways doctors can help patients understand the federal healthcare exchange.
Understand basics of federal health insurance exchange
In order for doctors to help patients understand the federal health insurance exchange, it’s important that they understand it well, themselves. The best place to do that is at the government’s website, healthcare.gov, which offers a quick guide to understanding the program.
Once doctors feel comfortable speaking to the processes for registering for a plan, they can start by explaining the basics of how the exchange works. It’s valuable to talk about the reason for the exchange, how it works, and the various levels of coverage options that are available.
Address misconceptions about federal health insurance exchange
While record numbers of people continue to register on the federal health insurance exchange, one of the ways doctors can help patients understand the plan is by using their positions to clear up concerns or misconceptions about the plan.
As noted, the biggest concern people have about health insurance is the high cost of most plans. However, one way doctors can help patients better understand the benefit of the federal health insurance exchange is using a calculator tool provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In less than a minute, patients can enter basic information about themselves and learn how much they would pay after tax premium tax credits.
Patients may have many misconceptions about the health insurance exchange, including coverage limitations and eligibility criteria. Doctors can provide clarity about those concerns and help patients obtain coverage that best suits their healthcare needs.
Collaborate with other professionals
For doctors who don’t have the time or ability to become completely familiar with the federal health insurance exchange, it may be best to steer your patients to people who make a profession of handling Marketplace plans. Doctors who fall in this category can establish a network of trusted agents who are more than willing to visit with patients and find a plan that fits their needs.
One of the valuable off-shoots of the federal health insurance exchange is that most insurance agents used to spend the majority of their time selling group health insurance plans. Now, with the Marketplace, there are more and more agents who are happy to build a business around providing individual plans.
Doctors rightfully spend most of their time focused on the overall health and wellbeing of their patients, and they leave most of the administrative work – liking insurance and billing – to administrative staff. But doctors who want to help their patients find a health insurance plan that offsets the high cost of care have more tools available to them than ever before. It starts with understanding the federal health insurance exchange and clearing up confusion patients may have. If that doesn’t work, doctors can always help patients find an agent who is thrilled to provide easy access to plans.
