I’m at the Choice Administrators road show for their private exchange product that has been writing multi-carrier health insurance for small business in California for 20+ years.


Mercer is all pumped up that their exchange has 52 employers signed up for 2014.  Big whoop.


I just love working with small business because they tend to have long term employees and are run like family. There is a desire to take care of employees and their families. CalChoice allows employees to pick the carrier (Anthem, Blue Shield, HealthNet, Aetna, Western Health, Sharp)  that has their doctor or the health plan or the health plan that includes docs (Kaiser). 

The difference between (besides the obvious apolitical superior customer service) private exchanges and the Government run (call centers full of employees trained in the ACA only) administrated exchange is that the public exchange (Covered California) seeks to 
enroll everyone regardless of doctor or coverage need.

While the private sector allows easy access and the services of a licensed health insurance broker, they also offer major medical and ancillary health carriers with their full superior networks of doctors and hospitals.

Employer based health care is moving from a “defined benefit” to a “defined contribution” format, where employers give employees a percentage or flat dollar amount. Your professional broker (like myself) helps educate and assists employees choose benefits that best fit their family situations. 

If you’re a Califirnia employer that would like to learn more, I would be happy to assist.