title: For Third Enrollment Period, Marketplaces Expand Decision Support Tools To Assist Consumers.
abstract: The design of the Affordable Care Act's online health insurance Marketplaces can improve how consumers make complex health plan choices. We examined the choice environment on the state-based Marketplaces and HealthCare.gov in the third open enrollment period. Compared to previous enrollment periods, we found greater adoption of some decision support tools, such as total cost estimators and integrated provider lookups. Total cost estimators differed in how they generated estimates: In some Marketplaces, consumers categorized their own utilization, while in others, consumers answered detailed questions and were assigned a utilization profile. The tools available before creating an account (in the window-shopping period) and afterward (in the real-shopping period) differed in several Marketplaces. For example, five Marketplaces provided total cost estimators to window shoppers, but only two provided them to real shoppers. Further research is needed on the impact of different choice environments and on which tools are most effective in helping consumers pick optimal plans.
authors.affiliation: Charlene A. Wong (charwong@upenn.edu) is a pediatrician in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
authors.forename: Charlene A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Daniel E. Polsky is a professor of medicine, the Robert D. Eilers Professor in Health Care Management, and executive director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, all at the University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Polsky
authors.affiliation: Arthur T. Jones is a research associate in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Arthur T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Janet Weiner is associate director for health policy in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.affiliation: Robert J. Town is the Gilbert and Shelly Harrison Professor of Health Care Management in the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Town
authors.affiliation: Tom Baker is the William Maul Measey Professor of Law and Health Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000191:economics; D062265:Health Insurance Exchanges / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007342:Insurance Benefits / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States
keywords: Health Reform; Insurance; Insurance Market < Insurance