The Affordable Care Act is just two weeks from having its inaugural open enrollment period end on the insurance exchanges. However, the creating of online marketplaces like healthcare.gov was just a piece of the omnibus health-care law.
One part of the law helped finance, via loans, non-profit insurance co-ops, and in many places they are gaining traction -- none more so than Maine, where, in a David-vs.-Goliath story, Maine Community Health Options is thoroughly trouncing established veteran WellPoint (ELV 0.21%). Overall the 23 co-ops have signed up a little under a tenth of exchange customers, a solid start for a new initiative.
Are we seeing a new model of how customers interact with their insurance providers? As these co-ops gain traction, it has left many asking: Is this the beginning of the end for traditional insurance providers?
On this Obamacare-focused episode of Market Checkup, Motley Fool health care analysts David Williamson and Michael Douglass talk all things Affordable Care Act, including the future of the insurance model, and what impact co-op success will change the traditional managed care practices.
Do you know how Obamacare will affect your insurance, or your investments?
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