Question: What questions do brokers have about exchanges?
Answer: While it is generally impossible to know who is asking the questions that come into our Q&A website, the majority of questions about Navigators seem to come from brokers. In general, brokers and agents are looking out for their survival. Brokers are trying to figure what role, if any, they will have in the exchange. What the market outside the Exchange will be like for individual health insurance in particular. How will they interface with the exchange? Will the exchange pay a commission? Will it be competitive with the outside market? All questions for which we have few answers at this point.
This is an uncertain time for brokers because we have no idea how everything is going to work out. If buying health insurance is really going to be as easy as purchasing a book from amazon.com, then eventually I can see the role of the broker in the individual market disappearing.