It's no secret a lot of brokers aren't wild about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
But a survey from benefits technology firm Benefitter paints a more detailed portrait of their dissatisfaction. Eighty percent of brokers had negative or critical feedback about PPACA when the firm surveyed 1,028 of them. As for their complaints — they had quite a few. Read on for the seven top complaints about the massive, often controversial, law.
7. Compressed timeline
Too much work and too little time: Brokers say PPACA is simply giving them too much to do and too little time to handle it.
The end of 2014 was especially stressful for brokers, the survey found.
"Many businesses now have a December renewal date due to last year's Transition Relief, creating an onslaught of Q4 work for brokers," Benefitter said.
Four percent of brokers said the compressed timeline was their biggest PPACA complaint.
6. Employer dumping
Sure many employers and industry surveys have debunked the notion that employers are rapidly dropping health coverage, but brokers — according to this survey — say otherwise.
Five percent of brokers said employers dumping health coverage benefits for their employees was their biggest issue.
Several brokers told Benefitter that they've already "seen many of their group clients drop health benefits and transition employees to the individual market."
"These groups will be forced to shut their plans down and tell their employees they are on their own. I wouldn't be surprised to see 50 percent-plus leave the employer-sponsored market," one broker told the firm.
5. Other law nuisances
Eleven percent of brokers said "other law nuisances" were their biggest PPACA complaint.
These concerns included: website malfunctions, Medicaid's uneven expansion, and confusion over "grandmothering," according to Benefitter.
The technical problems plaguing HealthCare.gov during its launch, and subsequent issues, have been a major sticking point.
"The [state exchange] website is down all the time, there is no workable electronic communication system and brokers have to wait on hold for up to an hour to get information," one broker told Benefitter.
Photo: Associated Press/Don Ryan
