The formation of health benefit exchanges has the Healthcare Information XChange of New York looking to protect its name.
The benefit exchanges, online marketplaces through which individuals and small businesses will purchase coverage beginning this fall, are often known by the acronym HIX, for health insurance exchange. The Healthcare Information Xchange, a Latham, NY-based nonprofit that links providers with insurers to share patient data, is best known as HIXNY.
Mark McKinney, CEO of HIXNY, said the organization is in the process of rebranding itself as simply Hixny. It is in the process of service marking the name for fear that a benefit exchange will use it.
“We are trying to do a better job of educating the public on the differences between Hixny and the benefit exchanges coming up all over the country,” he said.
New York state has named its benefit exchange “NY State of Health” but several private exchanges are under development.
Date: Aug 21, 2013