Tech firms see exchange proposal opening

The high-tech industry is hoping to cash in on a provision of Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus' healthcare plan intended to harness technology to help provide health insurance.

TechAmerica President Phil Bond, whose trade group represents IBM, Intel, Microsoft and others, stopped short of endorsing the bill, but he cheered the inclusion of incentives for Web-based insurance exchanges that would start rolling out in 2013.

Baucus' proposal would create state-based portals to direct consumers and small businesses who are purchasing plans on the individual market to every health coverage option available in their ZIP code. The Web sites would have standardized insurance enrollment applications and a standard format for presenting plans.

Users would be able to gauge their eligibility for tax credits or public programs, and those without Internet access could enroll through the mail or in person at specified locations, according to a Finance Committee summary. The CBO estimates that by 2019 about 25 million people would purchase coverage through the exchanges.

"Any real solution to the issues at hand will depend upon technology to improve access, quality and efficiency of health care. We hope lawmakers continue to keep this in mind and look for any way possible to make room for and encourage 21st century health care," Bond said.

Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black echoed the sentiment Thursday, arguing that wireless products could boost efficiency and keep healthcare costs from spiraling further. But he said policy must not allow artificial barriers to entry and that vendors of all sizes should have a fair shot at providing solutions.

President Obama told Congress last week that a four-year delay in implementing the exchanges "will give us time to do it right." But some firms, such as Silicon Valley-based eHealth, contend they already offer the technology to do the job. The company recently inked a deal to power Utah's state health exchange system. Massachusetts pioneered the concept in 2006.

"The problem Baucus will have is right-siding the size of the subsidy," eHealth lobbyist John Desser said. "He will have to think hard about who the eligible class should be and what the per-person size of the subsidy will be."

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee exchange language used the Massachusetts exchange as a blueprint, and the House version took a similar approach, Desser said.