Report: Arizona’s Obamacare exchange gets average grade

PHOENIX — When it comes to operating the health insurance exchange mandated by the Affordable Care Act, Arizona performs at an average-level, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.

The National Health Council’s latest research report, “What Patients Think About and Want from the Insurance Marketplace,” found Arizona’s exchange site is just average.

Patients who enrolled in an exchange plan had a tough time determining which insurance plan to use and had difficulty discovering if their doctors and medications fell under certain plans.

In order to fix this issue, NHC CEO Marc Boutin said that “patients need more tools to help them make better decisions when purchasing health plans on the exchange,” according to the article.

The principles used when evaluating 32 states were: non-discrimination, transparency, state oversight, uniformity and continuity of care.

Arizona was found to be average-performing in four of these metrics due to the lack of proper search tools.

“Arizona would have much more control over exchange plans if the state opted to create a state-based exchange, or, as an intermediary step, a partnership or exchange plan management model,” said the study. “Under a different operational model, Arizona also could become an active purchaser.”