Report: Exchanges will transform the health insurance business

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As companies try to lower their health-related costs, they're moving away from providing benefits directly to their employees and instead pushing them to be more responsible for their own health insurance. That trend will fuel more growth in health insurance exchanges over the next 10 years, dramatically changing the health insurance business, according to a new report from PwC's Health Research Institute.

Both public and private exchanges are poised to grow, though PwC predicted that the private marketplaces will expand slower than public ones.

Such an evolution in the health insurance business means that payers should start making changes now. "The push to retail means more transparency on pricing, products and services," Kelly Barnes, PwC's U.S. Health Industries leader said in a statement. "In today's new health economy, healthcare companies will need to find innovative ways to demonstrate value and quality to their customers."

With this new industry quickly approaching, PwC said insurers should:

To learn more:
- here's the PwC statement and report

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