Many employers have explored private exchanges, but the adoption of these exchanges has not kept pace with early forecasts. Based on publicly available information on private exchange enrollment, it is reasonable to estimate that between 4 million and 6 million active enrollees and 5 million to 8 million total enrollees are likely to be covered by private exchanges in 2016, well below initial forecasts for 2016. To understand why private exchange enrollment is so far below the initial forecasts, we need to consider the driver of the optimistic growth. The premise was that there would be significant movement to this platform because private exchanges offered such a compelling story to large employers.

This article was originally published in Pension & Benefits Daily.