Since the exchanges were announced, there's been a lot of talkabout how these marketplaces have the potential to change theentire landscape of employee benefits. But what's reallyhappening?

The results of surveys with both employers and brokers saychange has been slow. Based on a survey of more than 900 employerswith 10 to 10,000 employees, about 21 percent say they're usingexchanges for benefit offerings. Of these, more than half areoffering benefits through a private exchange. Six percent are usinga public exchange for medical but continue to offer other benefits,while 4 percent use a public exchange and no longer offer anybenefits.

Most (55 percent) of those using a public or private exchangesend all employees to the exchange. Almost one-third (28 percent)use some type of exchange but for active employees only, while 17percent are using these for retirees only.

Brokers also aren't rushing their clients to the privateexchanges. Our 2014 Benefits Selling/Eastbridge surveyfound that most brokers suggest a private exchange to less than 5percent of their clients. Brokers are somewhat more likely tosuggest this than the voluntary broker.

Both surveys found that the use of private exchanges is morelikely among larger employers and/or brokers focused on largecases.

But just because private exchanges haven't taken over the marketyet, does not mean they aren't going to have an impact. There aretwo other aspects to consider. First, what exactly is aprivate exchange? For many, exchanges are simply an enrollmentplatform that's used by an employer for offering benefits, withproducts tailored to each employer's needs. Defined contributionmay or may not be offered. If that's the case, employers may noteven realize they are a part of an “exchange.”

Second, how many employees are open to using a privateexchange for providing benefits, including voluntary, to theiremployees? Of those surveyed in a recent Eastbridge study, 30percent are open to it. However, 35 percent are still unsure (maybesuggesting they are unsure of what is and is not an exchange).

The bottom line is that it is still too early to tell. Up until2014, employers have wanted to maintain a status quo, not lookingat making too many changes about benefits as they tried tounderstand PPACA.

But, they're beginning to revisit the issue and consider makingsome adjustments. What does this mean? Brokers need to be talkingto and educating their employer clients about the uses and types ofexchanges. Taking the “mystery” out and explaining how exchangescan be used to offer a broader selection of products will helpincrease the usage of exchanges.