How Enrollment Assisters and Health Insurers Can Partner to Better Serve Consumers

Health insurance companies can increase the capacity of enrollment assister programs by providing answers to consumer queries about marketplace plans. As our new issue brief and video explain, partnering with health insurance companies gives enrollment assisters access to:

• information they can share with consumers about marketplace plans
• quick answers to help them troubleshoot consumer problems
• health literacy materials that explain basic health insurance concepts

For their part, these partnerships can help insurance companies reach new consumers and understand how the marketplace is functioning for consumers. Both sides can benefit.

Assisters must always remain impartial and unbiased when they reach out to the health insurers in their area. But by partnering with insurers, assister organizations can often more quickly provide their clients with the specific information they need.

This issue brief discusses:

• the benefits of partnering with insurers
• techniques assisters can use to partner with health insurers
• examples from two states that have formed successful partnerships
• rules that assisters must follow when engaging in these partnerships