Hartford Business Journal

16 Hartford Business Journal • February 15, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com Our readers respond to our advertisers' marketing messages. We will deliver your marketing message to the C-suite and the corner office. Source: Circulation Verification Council. Publication audit report and reader survey for HBJ. July 1, 2013-March 31, 2014 For more info about how the Hartford Business Journal can help you reach your target audience, contact Jessica Baker at 860-236-9998 x122 or jbaker@HartfordBusiness.com In Print. Online. In Person. www.HartfordBusiness.com Delivering Business. IS THE C-SUITE YOUR SWEET SPOT? 22% Owner/Partner 15% CEO 15% President 7% CFO 1% CIO 3% COO 3% Other corporate office 11% Vice President 10% Director/Manager 6% Sales/Marketing 7% Other Which one of the following best describes your job title or function? customers this year with the four insur- ers offering exchange plans: Connecticare, Anthem, HealthyCT and United Healthcare. It's not clear exactly how many Connecticare plans the brokers helped sell. Access Health CT CEO Jim Wadleigh said he's worried the dispute could damage future relations between brokers and the exchange, which has increasingly leveraged insurance agents as a cost-effective way to boost enroll- ments. If the exchange were to lose broker support, it may need to hire more staff to advise and enroll customers, Wadleigh said. "Access Health is working with our lead brokers as well as our carriers to make sure that everyone understands each other's roles and responsibilities," Wadleigh said. "There does appear to be some confusion and we are working to communicate these items." Last month, Wadleigh expressed con- cern about a recent decision by United Healthcare to stop offering exchange-relat- ed commissions, because the insurer found its state exchange plans unprofitable. United Healthcare's market share on Connecticut's exchange was just 2 percent in 2015, shrink- ing to 1.6 percent this year. The company hinted in November that it may pull out of state exchanges in 2017. The dispute Jennifer Lovett, CEO of Crystal Finan- cial, said she and her three fellow lead bro- kers believe their contracts with Connec- ticare require the insurer to pay them $16 per month for each member they signed up during the third annual Obamacare enroll- ment period, which began in November and ended in January. It's the same commission they've received in the past, before becom- ing lead brokers in 2015, she said. The exchange has been operating since 2013. But Connecticare informed the four bro- kers this month that it had reclassified them as "e-producers," or brokers that generally enroll customers online and receive a lower commission of $12 per enrollee per month. Connecticare said it assigns an e-produc- er classification to any broker that it provides with marketing support or sales leads. In an email to one of the lead brokers obtained by the Hartford Business Journal, a Connecticare vice president, Terry Guidone, appears to argue that the $8 million assess- ment the insurer pays Access Health to help fund the exchange's customer call center counts as marketing and/or sales support because lead brokers receive referrals from it. Guidone wrote that the lower commis- sions for e-brokers help "offset the dollars we spend in marketing and resources to direct leads to them." In a statement, Connecticare reiterated the company's contention that lead brokers are e-producers, and that its e-producer arrangements predate the creation of Access Health CT. It's unclear how many e-brokers and regular brokers Connecticare uses. "We value our broker relationships and the important role brokers play during open enrollment and throughout the year," the insurer's statement said. Lovett said her contract with Connecti- care classifies her as a regular broker and that the assessment Connecticare pays to Access Health shouldn't affect her own agreement with the insurer. She provided a copy of her contract to HBJ, signed by her agency in 2013. Lovett said that contract, which pays a $16 com- mission, according to Connecticare's bro- ker marketing materials, remains in effect today and that she never signed an e-pro- ducer agreement with the insurer. She also said she never received advertis- ing money from Connecticare, and that she spent $25,000 on her own ad campaign to drum up exchange business. She acknowl- edged, however, that the majority of her sales this year came from Access Health's call cen- ter — specifically previous Medicaid patients who were no longer eligible for the low-income social healthcare program due to changes made last year by the legislature. She said some of her sales also came from her own network of customers and other sources. "They're attacking all my leads," said Lovett, who estimates that her six-employ- ee agency sold 2,300 Connecticare plans during the most recent enrollment period. If they receive the lower $12 commission rate they'll lose $110,000. Lovett said her team often worked 12-hour days during the enrollment period. "Now I have to tell my staff they won't get the amount they thought they would," Lovett said. "It's heartbreaking when you see your staff that's so dedicated and working so hard." Lovett said she planned to hire at least one additional employee to service the influx of new exchange clients, but that is now on hold. She is also worried the dispute could set a precedent that would impact the more than 600 regular brokers across the state who sell Access Health plans. "If they get away with it with us, [other insurers] will follow suit," she said. "There's a ripple effect." It's possible the spat will end up in court, since contracts are in dispute. Access Health has asked the Insurance Department to weigh in on the question of whether an insurer can modify commission rates once their premiums have received approval from the state in a given year. An Insurance Department spokeswoman said last week the agency "is aware of the issue and currently looking into it." There's no clear timetable for a possible resolution. n Access Health CT Private Insurance Enrollment Market Share Carrier 2015 Market Share 2016 Market Share % Change Anthem 43,910 38,687 -12% Connecticare 46,668 61,752 32% HealthyCT 17,239 13,721 -20% UnitedHealthcare 2,278 1,859 -18% Total 110,095 116,019 5% S O U R C E : A C C E S S H E A L T H C T from page 1 Pay in dispute

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