KTP Advisors Launches PHIX Market Map

traditionalKTP Advisors™ has launched the first comprehensive, unbiased and completely independent Market Map and comparative data service of private healthcare insurance exchanges (PHIX) and marketplaces for employers, trade associations, and insurance brokers who don’t have the time to shop through different private exchange solutions.

The company, which has no exchange nor is it affiliated with one, has created a very robust set of criteria, along with site visits, to evaluate each exchange. In addition, KTP has created a “market map” which outlines the more than 170 distinct PHIXs currently available. The research presented on this map includes a partial list of the almost 150 comparative data points KTP has researched and gathering on these exchanges and marketplaces.  In addition to complex comparative analyses, KTP can run competitive, national Request for Proposals (RFPs) and negotiate contract terms as well for organizations seeking to partner with a private exchange.

In addition to basic operational, product and pricing factors, there are even more complex considerations that KTP assesses before employers sign onto an exchange, said Mike Martocci, KTP’s private healthcare exchange strategy leader. “The back-end technology, which powers the different exchanges, can be incredibly intricate. The software platform is a part that an employer and employees never see, yet exchange owners as well as corporate human resource departments and insurance brokers and carriers will have to deal with every day.“

Another standard that demands close scrutiny is on who owns the exchange and how the exchange is compensated. “Many large, traditional human resource consulting firms have launched their own private exchanges, which are generating significant commissions for the advisors as well as administrative fees,” explained Mark Whitcher, KTP’s president and CEO. “Evaluating private exchanges and all of the options in a brand new market is extremely difficult and it’s essential to know the right questions to ask. There are multiple hidden revenue sources in the exchange market, which make an objective appraisal of the possible solutions difficult, if not impossible, when one of those exchanges under consideration is your own.  There are legal and fiduciary concerns for employers as well.”

Deb Jacobson, a PHIX senior consultant at KTP and former Board Chair at Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI, added, “Offering independent insight into technically sophisticated health benefit issues is at the core of KTP’s expertise, and our private exchange services are no different.” We believe our PHIX performance standards and data metrics will establish the benchmark for the industry.”

For a more in-depth analysis of the exchanges including, financial information, service information, product information, consumer decision support tools, exchange strategy, sales and marketing techniques, data and security obligations, etc., please contact Nicole Allen at nallen@ktpadvisors.com.