The Company Announces New Focus on Group Retiree Market and Partnership With Benefits Administrator Empyrean
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/23/13 --
eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) (www.ehealth.com), which operates eHealthInsurance.com, the nation's first and largest private online health insurance exchange, today announced that it is providing solutions for corporate retiree program beneficiaries, offering them access to a broad selection of Medicare and pre-Medicare health insurance choices. The move is part of the company's broader strategy to extend its industry leading ecommerce platform to support private exchange solutions.
eHealth recently established a partnership with Empyrean, an HR technology and services company administering employee benefits for over 100 companies and 1 million individuals. As a result of this partnership, Empyrean's client Sabre Holdings, a global travel technology company, will begin referring retirees to a cobranded eHealth website where they can purchase individual Medicare insurance plans.
These retirees, many of whom are Medicare-eligible, will have access to eHealth's large and expanding selection of Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, Medicare Advantage plans, and Medicare supplemental plans. eHealth currently offers a diverse range of Medicare products from dozens of insurers nationwide. Referred retirees will also have access to eHealth's proprietary prescription drug coverage comparison tools and eHealth's licensed agents to help them make the best selection for their personal needs and budget.
Through eHealth's eHealthMedicare.com site, the company provides business partners with a highly-scalable, industry-leading ecommerce platform while offering their customers a robust selection of Medicare products and world-class telephonic support from licensed agents.
"eHealth's diverse product offerings allow us to span all of the life stages of today's health insurance consumer," said eHealth President and Chief Operating Officer Bill Shaughnessy. "Helping corporate retirees find the individually-purchased Medicare coverage they need is a natural extension of eHealth's powerful ecommerce platform and part of our broader private exchange strategy. Employers can rest assured knowing their retirees will get the advice and support they need."
"We're pleased to partner with eHealth," said Doug Hogenmiller, SVP of Business Development for Empyrean. "They're well established as the industry leader in the online individual, family and Medicare health insurance markets. Their powerful online ecommerce platform and breadth of offerings across all fifty states provides corporate accounts the choice and versatility they need. eHealth is precisely the kind of self-service online solution our clients are looking for to serve the needs of retirement beneficiaries."
Sabre's Director of Benefits Brent Wolfe added: "It's important to us that our retirees have access to the Medicare options and other insurance choices they require to meet their personal and family needs. When Empyrean introduced us to eHealth's solution, it was a perfect fit. The broad selection of products and insightful comparison tools make all the difference for an easy transition to self-purchased coverage."
About eHealth
eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) operates eHealthInsurance, the Nation's first and largest private health insurance exchange where individuals, families and small businesses can compare health insurance products from leading insurers side by side and purchase and enroll in coverage online. eHealthInsurance offers thousands of individual, family and small business health plans underwritten by more than 200 of the nation's leading health insurance companies. eHealthInsurance is licensed to sell health insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. eHealth, Inc. also provides powerful online and pharmacy-based tools to help Medicare beneficiaries navigate Medicare health insurance options, choose the right plan and enroll in select plans online through PlanPrescriber.com (www.planprescriber.com) and eHealthMedicare.com (www.eHealthMedicare.com).
For more health insurance news and information, visit the eHealth consumer blog: Get Smart - Get Covered.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding eHealth's relationships with insurance carriers and partners; the implementation of eHealth's relationship with Empyrean and Sabre Holdings; the company's strategies related to private exchange expansion and the addition of new solutions to its industry leading ecommerce platform; the availability of solutions and Medicare products and support tools to retirees; advice and support to retirees; availability of Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug plans from a broad selection of carriers through eHealth; Empyrean and other individuals and entities using eHealth solutions for retirees and referral of retirees to eHealth; and the availability of a new Medicare customer experience for retirees, including access to comparison tools and features. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, eHealth's ability to maintain its relationships with health insurance carriers and partners; eHealth's ability to provide additional solutions that will expand its industry leading ecommerce platform to support private exchange solutions; partners ability to add its customer base to the corporate retiree program through eHealth; development and receipt of approval of eHealth's websites and platform from health insurance carriers and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); compliance with, and potential changes to, laws, regulations and rules relating to eHealth's sale of Medicare related insurance products in the retiree and other contexts; eHealth's ability to maintain its call centers with adequate resources and staffing; health insurance carrier and employer compliance with laws, regulations and rules; and risks relating to availability of eHealth's websites and platform. Other risks and uncertainties that can affect actual results are included under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in eHealth's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which are on file with the SEC and are available on the investor relations page of eHealth's website at http://www.ehealthinsurance.com and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Sande Drew
eHealth, Inc.
(916) 207-7674
sande.drew@ehealth.com
Brian Mast
eHealth, Inc.
(650) 210-3149
brian.mast@ehealth.com
Source: eHealthInsurance
