HHS translates healthcare insurance exchanges for clarity

The term “healthcare insurance exchange” (HIX) has been booted from official circles. Instead, the new official term is “healthcare insurance marketplace.”

The term was changed because the word “marketplace” translates more accurately into Spanish, Anton Gunn, director of External Affairs at HHS, explained at this week’s Health Action 2013 conference.

The topic has an established following on Twitter under the hashtag “#HIX” but no word on whether the hashtag will change.

Some see the re-branding as a sign of flailing within the program. Others gauge the reach into Latino populations as a key to the initiative’s success. “We know that 12 million of the people eligible speak Spanish, and one million more speak a language other than English or Spanish,” Gunn said. “These are the people we need to reach.”

Open enrollment for state marketplaces is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2013.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.