How do exchanges simplify things for an employer?

Many employers are just exhausted from changing health plans every time there is another rate increase – someone always gets upset by the change and what started out as an employee benefit ends up being a challenge. Rates have escalated way too much in the past decade, some employees are reluctant to change providers and the administrative/regulatory hassles are overbearing on many employers, especially small ones. An exchange does two things to make the employer’s life simpler: First, they provide a broad choice of plans and carriers – allowing employees to choose the plan that is best for them as opposed to the traditional “one shoe fits all” approach that employers have traditionally taken when selecting a plan; Second, all of this is done on a single administrative platform that consolidates the administrative functions into a single arrangement that the employer (or the broker) can handle.

Source Blue Shield of California

https://www.blueshieldca.com/employer/administrator-resources/reference/tax-resources.sp

03/20/14