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Exploring the Association Between E-Broker Services and Consumer Choice
Ginther, Donna Onasch, Whitney Wedel, Xan
Ginther, Donna
Onasch, Whitney
Wedel, Xan
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Abstract
This report examines how services offered by SelectQuote enhance access to insurance information and expand consumer choice, particularly for Medicare-eligible individuals and those in rural, underserved, and low-income areas.
SelectQuote has operated for nearly four decades, connecting consumers with a wide range of insurance plans through a network of brokers who provide no-cost guidance, price comparisons, and policy recommendations. In recent years, a growing share of SelectQuote’s business has focused on Medicare insurance, with many clients living in rural communities and facing barriers to accessing traditional insurance brokers.
This analysis explores whether and how SelectQuote’s services contribute to a more competitive and consumer-friendly insurance market. Specifically, it investigates the availability of knowledgeable brokers and insurance plan options across rural and small-town America, whether e-broker services help narrow rural-urban disparities in access to high-quality information, and whether SelectQuote services are reaching low-income seniors.
Description
The analysis relies on a database, prepared by SelectQuote, that captures information on insurance brokers who are licensed to sell health insurance in ten states: Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. These ten states were chosen because they are locations where (1) information about insurance brokers is publicly available, and (2) SelectQuote maintains a significant membership base. The database aggregates publicly available information about all agents who are licensed to sell insurance products in a particular state, including both the location of the agent’s business offices and the scope of their services. These data are supplemented with county-level data from SelectQuote on (1) how many active SelectQuote beneficiaries are in the county, (2) how many Medicare Advantage plans are offered in the county, and (3) how many Medicare Advantage Plans are offered by SelectQuote in the county. We combined these data from SelectQuote with publicly available county-level data from the 2020 Decennial Census and the 2019-2023 vintage of the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. These public data sources contribute demographic estimates, including median household income, the percentage of individuals within a county who live in a rural area, and the poverty rates of individuals 65 years of age and over.
Date
2025-11-20
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Institute for Policy & Social Research, The University of Kansas
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Keywords
E-broker, SelectQuote, Medicare Advantage