Buying health insurance online is the future. And while that may be convenient consumers, it's not such great news for the more than 100,000 insurance agents and brokers who depend on commissions for a living.
Brokers are hoping the technical glitches, and the complicated nature of health insurance with the premiums, deductibles and government subsidies will drive consumers straight to that quaint office in the neighborhood.
It’s a nice fantasy, says University of Pennsylvania Professor Tom Baker.
“If insurance companies can get enough business through exchanges, where they aren’t going to have to pay brokerage fees, then they are going to prefer to go through the insurance exchanges,” he says.
Fierce price competition on the exchanges could also eat away at insurance company profits, squeezing brokers commissions.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/health-care/obamacare-costs-jobs-insurance-brokers
Brokers are hoping the technical glitches, and the complicated nature of health insurance with the premiums, deductibles and government subsidies will drive consumers straight to that quaint office in the neighborhood.
It’s a nice fantasy, says University of Pennsylvania Professor Tom Baker.
“If insurance companies can get enough business through exchanges, where they aren’t going to have to pay brokerage fees, then they are going to prefer to go through the insurance exchanges,” he says.
Fierce price competition on the exchanges could also eat away at insurance company profits, squeezing brokers commissions.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/health-care/obamacare-costs-jobs-insurance-brokers