Microsoft will offer new turnkey technology designed to help states quickly and efficiently roll out their statewide health insurance exchanges by 2014. This will include exchanges, enrollment and eligibility technology, health-enabled business intelligence/analytics and case coordination.

Microsoft’s State Health Insurance Exchange (HIX) solutions include several core Microsoft and partner technologies and allow state and government agencies to choose a single interoperable framework that connects new and existing government and private sector systems within a consistent architecture.

[See also: HHS awards states $49M for insurance exchange planning.]

Among Microsoft’s partners is South Jordan, Utah-based Extend Health, which operates the largest private Medicare health insurance exchange in the country and recently won the contract to provide its exchange technology and services to the state of Nevada’s Public Employees’ Benefits Program where it will transition eligible retired employees to individual Medicare supplemental plans.

State HIX solutions from Microsoft and its partners help achieve compliance with health reform legislation’s insurance exchange provisions, say executives. The offering can provide a state with a single solution that integrates the multiple aspects of health insurance delivery – including consumer portals, eligibility determinations, financial services, plan enrollment, enhanced privacy features and program administration.

"The insurance exchange aspect of healthcare reform is creating the need for states to make decisions and solve problems that lie outside their traditional areas of expertise, such as integrating databases, collecting monthly premiums and calculating tax subsidies," said Jack Hersey, general manager, United States Public Sector Healthcare and Social Services Group, Microsoft.

"Microsoft’s HIX solutions eliminate the need for states to evaluate numerous point solutions from various firms to find one that works well with government policies or existing IT infrastructures," he added. "When a state chooses Microsoft’s State Health Insurance Exchange solutions, officials can be confident that their design and implementation partners will be capable and have a proven track record."

[See also: States get more money for insurance exchange investment.]

Microsoft’s – including Windows Azure, Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 and Microsoft SQL Server – serve as the foundation for the HIX solutions and provide a framework made up of well-known, interoperable technology products.

Partner technologies, such as Extend Health’s premium administration, plan comparisons, and enrollment and call center operations solutions, layer additional functionality to the robust platform.

“The Microsoft HIX solutions will save states time and money in the design and deployment of the technology underlying health insurance exchanges,” said Bryce Williams, CEO of Extend Health. “It frees states to focus on building proper consumer support to help citizens make their best choice from available healthcare plans.”

Microsoft’s HIX offering also gives states access to the extensive Microsoft partner network for solid expertise in crucial areas such as systems integration, Medicaid Management Information Systems and Medicaid Information Technology Architecture requirements.