Narrow networks backlash being felt across the insurance marketplace and campaign trail

Jul 23 2014

News outlets report that consumer frustration with health law plans' limited choice of doctors and hospitals is emerging in a number of areas.

Politico: Obamacare: Anger Over Narrow Networks
Anger over limited choice of doctors and hospitals in Obamacare plans is prompting some states to require broader networks -; and boiling up as yet another election year headache for the health law. Americans for Prosperity is hitting on these "narrow networks" against Democrats such as Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, whose GOP opponent Scott Brown has made the health law a centerpiece of his campaign to unseat her. And Republicans have highlighted access challenges as another broken promise from a president who assured Americans they could keep their doctor (Norman, 7/ 22).

Modern Healthcare: Providers, Insurers Grapple With Narrow-Network Backlash
Narrow networks are a reality of the new health insurance landscape. Nearly half of all insurance plans sold on the public exchanges in 2014 were narrow network plans, defined as those with less than 70% of area hospitals included, according to an analysis by the research firm McKinsey & Company. But given that reality, insurers and providers need to do a better job of providing consumers with accessible, easily understandable information about networks when they shop for coverage. That was the message conveyed by participants in a panel discussion about network adequacy on Monday in Washington sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform (Demko, 7/21).