Private Exchanges and Pet Insurance

On this morning's program, the hosts will be discussing private health insurance exchanges, pet insurance and more with special guests from Accenture and Hartville Pet Insurance Group.

For the first segment on today's program, Scott Brown, Private Exchange Offering Lead at Accenture, will be joining the program to discuss the firm's latest private exchange research. Accenture estimates enrollment in private health insurance exchanges doubled to six million individuals for the 2015 plan year. The company projects hypergrowth will continue through 2018, as a number of factors inhibiting early growth will dissipate, while several accelerators will spur further adoption. These factors, combined with the employer’s desire to meet consumers’ demand for choice and flexibility in a retail-like shopping experience, will lead to 40 million members on private exchanges by 2018.

The second guest on this week's program will be JoAnne Novak, AVP Business Development at Hartville Pet Insurance Group, providers of ASPCA Pet Health Insurance.  As one of the oldest and largest pet insurance providers in the U.S., Hartville has committed itself to helping more pet parents have access to reliable and affordable pet insurance plans. According to the American Pet Products Association, roughly 68 percent of U.S. households have a pet, and last year, over $15 billion was spent on veterinary care. In this segment, JoAnne will discuss what’s driving the increasing demand for pet health insurance as a voluntary benefit as well as what makes pet insurance relevant for the workforce in connection with health care consumerism and private exchanges.