{"id":3718,"date":"2016-08-08T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/?p=3718"},"modified":"2016-08-04T14:27:52","modified_gmt":"2016-08-04T21:27:52","slug":"nervous-washingtons-shop-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evergreensmallbusiness.com\/nervous-washingtons-shop-exchange\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Be Nervous About Washington\u2019s SHOP Exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>If you\u2019re a small business owner, you should probably be nervous about Washington\u2019s SHOP Exchange.<\/p>\n

To start, though, let\u2019s clarify: we\u2019re not talking about the individual exchange. Washington State\u2019s individual exchange really works quite well, despite what many may think given the initial disaster that was Healthcare.gov.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about the small business side of the Exchange, where things have not been going so well<\/a>. And several reasons justify nervousness\u2026<\/p>\n

Reason #1: Difficulty Getting Insurers to Bite<\/h2>\n

A first reason? Too few insurers are participating.<\/p>\n

In 2017, for example, most counties in Washington State won\u2019t even be served by the small business side of the Exchange.<\/p>\n

This is because UnitedHealthcare is exiting the Exchange, and up until now UnitedHealthcare was the only small business insurer the Exchange had for most counties (Clark and Cowlitz being the exception).<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve asked representatives of the Exchange what they attribute this to, and have really only gotten non-answers back like \u201cwell we\u2019re having conversations with carriers\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Poking around at Exchange meeting materials that are available publicly on its site<\/a>, it sounds like what might be going on is that there are some major changes to the IT infrastructure of the site before a lot of insurers are willing to give this thing a try (maybe because the site needs to be better to lure more customers?)<\/p>\n

Yes, I acknowledge that \u201csounds like what might be happening\u201d is about as speculative as it gets, but until the Exchange leaders become a bit more forthcoming about what\u2019s going on, we don\u2019t really have much to go on.<\/p>\n

However, if we\u2019ve deduced correctly that this is the problem, then this is a bigger problem for Washington State small businesses for reasons #2, 3, and 4, which I\u2019ll describe next.<\/p>\n

Reason #2: Lack of Capital Reserves for Big Projects<\/h2>\n

Another reason to be nervous? A lack of adequate capital reserves\u2014and a lack of a plan to acquire and maintain adequate capital reserves.<\/p>\n

In a recent state auditor\u2019s report<\/a>, for example, one of the key recommendations for putting the Exchange on a path to sustainability was for the Exchange to establish a long-term financial plan, a working reserve, and a capital reserve.<\/p>\n

We should note, for the sake of fairness, that the Exchange is working on this. The Exchange indicated in its response to the state auditor\u2019s report that it has commenced work on establishing a long-term financial plan that includes developing a reserve, and is due to complete this work by December 31st<\/sup>, 2016. However, any efforts the Exchange makes to implement effective long-term financial planning are hampered by policies of the Legislature described in #3 and 4, below.<\/p>\n

Reason #3: Legislature\u2019s Spending Rules Stop the Exchange from Swiftly Investing in Needed IT Improvements<\/h2>\n

A third issue: the lack of support from the Legislature for continuous basic improvement in the information technology required to run a decent exchange. Which sounds crazy.<\/p>\n

It is in the Legislature\u2019s best interest to enable the Exchange to make certain improvements to its website as soon as it can, because many of these improvements accelerate the Exchange\u2019s path toward self-sustainability. This is for two main reasons:<\/p>\n