Buck Consultants, a human resources and benefits firm owned by Xerox Corp., will launch a private health insurance exchange for employers with 3,000 or more eligible employees for enrollment this coming fall, Xerox announced Feb. 28.
Through RightOpt, participating employers would be able to access a national network of coverage plans, according to Buck Consultants, which hopes to use its scale to help participating employers cut health care costs. The exchange is intended for fall 2013 enrollment.
With the high cost of health care for employees and worker productivity stretched to the limit, Sherri Bockhorst, principal and leader of Buck Health Exchange Solutions, said, “RightOpt can help address this challenge by enabling employers to promote a healthier and more focused workforce while driving costs out of the health care delivery system.”
Xerox, based in Norwalk, administers Medicaid programs in 36 states and the District of Columbia, and is assisting several states in the development of state-administered health insurance exchanges. Buck Consultants is headquartered in New York City and has an office in Stamford, among others nationwide.
Companies with 3,000 employees already have a tremendous advantage in securing health insurance for their employees. A health insurance exchange needs to be established for employers with fewer than 25 employees.
CT could not pass the legislation to offer the State’s employees health insurance to any business in the state. In my personal instance, the savings would have been over $1,700 savings per employee. It was the lobbying of the insurance companies that blocked the legislation.