State Agency

n 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was passed into law. A key feature of the PPACA is the mandate to establish a health insurance exchange for each state (or multi-state region) by January 1, 2014. Cicero partnered with a leading health care consulting firm to develop a multi-platform approach to assist a state insurance department as it moved toward implementation of a state-based health insurance exchange.

In order to assist the state in its planning and strategy process, Cicero needed to better understand the needs, concerns, and wants of all key stakeholders regarding a state health insurance exchange. Stakeholders included, but were not limited to, residents, business leaders, insurers, brokers, state agencies, legislators, and healthcare providers. Cicero leveraged its unique capacity to utilize secondary, qualitative, and quantitative research to help develop a strategy for this complex implementation process. In this expansive process, Cicero completed over 150 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, conducted myriad town hall meetings throughout the state, and targeted quantitative studies with over 1,000 residents.

By the conclusion of the partnership, Cicero had

• Advised in high-level strategic planning
• Collected primary baseline information (including social, economic, and demographic data)
• Provided actionable market research and analysis
• Assisted in initial outreach and education efforts
• Assessed the environmental and market impact of implementing a state-based exchange

Based upon this partnership, the state was able to develop a short- and long-term implementation strategy. As a result, the state secured over $20mm in state planning and establishment grants from Health and Human Services for the design and implementation of a state-based health insurance exchange.