A sign of the times

There's a good article by Paul Demko at Modern Healthcare about narrow networks, "Providers, insurers grapple with narrow-network backlash." Here's the lede:

Narrow networks are a reality of the new health insurance landscape. Nearly half of all insurance plans sold on the public exchanges in 2014 were narrow network plans, defined as those with less than 70% of area hospitals included, according to an analysis by the research firm McKinsey & Company.

But given that reality, insurers and providers need to do a better job of providing consumers with accessible, easily understandable information about networks when they shop for coverage. That was the message conveyed by participants in a panel discussion about network adequacy on Monday in Washington sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform.

Need to do a better job?

Sorry, but didn't they think about this beforehand? If we add in the expanded use of high-deductible plans, there is a sea change in what "insurance" actually means. I'd have hoped the industry was more attuned to consumer response than to look back and say, "We need to do a better job."