“That SBMs don’t message about shopping the way the FFM does and, even if they do, don’t do it with the frequency and aggressiveness as healthcare.gov.”
I have some additional anecdotal support for this theory. I'm a longtime volunteer for ACA enrollment outreach here in California, and I spent a few years personally on Covered CA plans. I've generally thought of Covered CA as a pretty active exchange when it comes to outreach. And they certainly are in the general sense! They are well plugged into the network of agents/enrollers across the state, they provided (especially in the early years) great data on where to find the uninsured to get covered, and they always put out good collateral for enrollers to use. Of course they also do quite a lot of paid media, especially during Open Enrollment.
But the specific message of "hey everyone, do some shopping every year!!" is NOT something they push a lot. I looked back at the email blasts I've gotten from them over the years, and there were only a few encouraging shopping. Being in an SBM state, I didn't realize that healthcare.gov pushes this message much more aggressively. But I suspect that makes a real difference! People are busy and hear a lot of stuff, so if you want something to break through, repetition is important. The FFM apparently has figured out some best practices for their email marketing that the SBMs could benefit from.
“That SBMs don’t message about shopping the way the FFM does and, even if they do, don’t do it with the frequency and aggressiveness as healthcare.gov.”
I have some additional anecdotal support for this theory. I'm a longtime volunteer for ACA enrollment outreach here in California, and I spent a few years personally on Covered CA plans. I've generally thought of Covered CA as a pretty active exchange when it comes to outreach. And they certainly are in the general sense! They are well plugged into the network of agents/enrollers across the state, they provided (especially in the early years) great data on where to find the uninsured to get covered, and they always put out good collateral for enrollers to use. Of course they also do quite a lot of paid media, especially during Open Enrollment.
But the specific message of "hey everyone, do some shopping every year!!" is NOT something they push a lot. I looked back at the email blasts I've gotten from them over the years, and there were only a few encouraging shopping. Being in an SBM state, I didn't realize that healthcare.gov pushes this message much more aggressively. But I suspect that makes a real difference! People are busy and hear a lot of stuff, so if you want something to break through, repetition is important. The FFM apparently has figured out some best practices for their email marketing that the SBMs could benefit from.