Building a Better Health Care Marketplace: Ensuring Accountability

The opportunity to create a state exchange will allow Iowa to increase competition and improve choices in our insurance market. However, to fully realize this opportunity, the exchange must be accountable to the public, and the individual and small business consumers who will buy their coverage through it.

Report

Iowa PIRG

The opportunity to create a state exchange will allow Iowa to increase competition and improve choices in our insurance market. However, to fully realize this opportunity, the exchange must be accountable to the public, and the individual and small business consumers who will buy their coverage through it.

The best way for the state to realize these goals is to make decisions about the exchange’s structure and governance to ensure that this important new entity is transparent in its operations, and fundamentally accountable to the public interest. By follow the recommendations in this policy brief Iowa can ensure that its health insurance exchange reflects these principles:

  1. A clear pro-consumer mission
  2. Accountability to the public, not special interests
  3. A governing board that represents consumers and small businesses
  4. Strong protections against conflict of interest
  5. Robust public participation
  6. Transparency of budgets and records