Towers Watson (NYSE, NASDAQ: TW), a global professional services company, today announced the launch of OneExchange. Building on Towers Watson’s 2012 acquisition of Extend Health, OneExchange offers employers both private and public exchange-based health insurance options for their full- and part-time workers, and for all retirees. OneExchange makes it easy for employers to manage the coverage, quality and cost of private and public health plan choices for all segments of their workforce and retiree populations through a single exchange platform. “Starting in 2014, the Affordable Care Act establishes guaranteed issue and standard plan designs for all individuals, and federal subsidies for those who meet certain eligibility requirements,” said Bryce Williams, managing director for Exchange Solutions at Towers Watson. “It also creates public exchanges, or marketplaces, as a mechanism for individuals to obtain health plans.” “Employers that decide an exchange is right for some or all of their workforce and retirees can provide access to OneExchange and realize the benefits of these regulatory changes,” said Williams. “They can use OneExchange to fund and oversee the quality and cost of their health care coverage with the counsel of a trusted and experienced advisor from a unified platform.” Built on market-leading exchange platform OneExchange builds on Extend Health’s market-leading health insurance exchange platform to deliver proven, end-to-end and seamlessly integrated exchange solutions:
- Proven. Extend Health operates the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, which has more than 250 employers, including 45 Fortune 500 companies. Extend Health has helped more than 500,000 retirees select from thousands of private Medicare plans from more than 80 national and regional insurance companies. Licensed benefit advisors, using state-of-the art decision support tools and service center routing systems, have logged more than three million phone calls helping retirees choose coverage that fits their needs.
- End to end. Services provided include end-to-end transition support from initial financial analysis for employers, to plan comparison, purchase and enrollment, and post-enrollment support and advocacy for individuals making coverage choices.
- Seamlessly integrated. Advanced analytics and reporting tools help employers with strategic decision making and health coverage management for all plan holders.
The OneExchange solutions
OneExchange solutions available now include ExtendRetiree, which provides transition assistance for Medicare-eligible retirees moving to an exchange. This solution reflects the established market regulations and health plan products that are available today. Also available now for ExtendRetiree is BenefitView, a management dashboard that gives employers real-time information about the progress of retirees as they evaluate and choose plans. Additional OneExchange solutions will be triggered by final regulations and ACA health plan product offerings, as well as Towers Watson’s continued efforts to drive innovation in the delivery of health care benefits. New solutions will:- Connect challenging workforce segments such as pre-65 retirees and part-time, contract or seasonal workers to plans offered on public exchanges
- Provide financial analysis, modeling tools and consulting to help employers decide whether to use private or public exchange solutions — and, if so, how they will deliver value for various segments of their populations
- Enable employers to transition their full-time, active employees to exchanges offering individual health plans or group-based plans with features that engage participants in their health care decisions
- Extend the BenefitView management dashboard to integrate analytics and reporting for all exchange solutions across all populations
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: the risk that potential changes in federal and state health care regulations, or future interpretation of existing regulations, may have a material adverse impact on our business; the risk that our Extend Health business fails to maintain good relationships with insurance carriers, becomes dependent upon a limited number of insurance carriers or fails to develop new insurance carrier relationships; the risk that changes and developments in the health insurance system in the United States could harm our business; our ability to respond to rapid technological changes; and the risk that a significant or prolonged economic downturn could have a material adverse effect on Towers Watson's business, financial condition and results of operations. Additional risks and factors are identified under “Risk Factors” in Towers Watson’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC.
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events because these statements are based on assumptions that may not come true and are speculative by their nature. Towers Watson does not undertake an obligation to update any of the forward-looking information included in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed expectations or otherwise.
