eHealth, Inc. Reaches New Leadership Milestone as It Insures Over 3 Million Consumers
Nov 27, 2012 (Marketwire via COMTEX) --eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH), parent company of eHealthInsurance (www.ehealthinsurance.com), and America's first and largest private health insurance exchange, announced today that it has enrolled over three million consumers in health insurance products through eHealthInsurance.com and the company's other online properties.
In 1998, eHealth sold the first health insurance policy over the Internet and kicked-off more than a decade of technology innovation that helped move both health insurance companies and shoppers online. eHealth led the transition of a historically paper-laden enrollment process into one that is virtually paperless today. This was achieved through a series of technology innovations including the advent of e-signature technology and the first-ever digital health insurance application. To simplify a very complex process, eHealth created many of the consumer-friendly tools that Internet shoppers take for granted today like side-by-side health plan comparison tools and the ability to sort health plan results by their preferred doctor, price, plan benefit, insurance company and other filters.
Today eHealth enrolls tens of thousands of consumers every month in individual and family health insurance policies, as well as small group, Medicare, dental, vision and other complementary insurance products. At eHealthInsurance.com, the company offers more than 10,000 plans from over 180 of the nation's leading health insurance carriers. The company is licensed to sell health insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
This milestone marks the cumulative number of consumers that have enrolled in a health insurance plan purchased through eHealthinsurance.com or eHealth's online Medicare marketplaces, eHealthMedicare.com and PlanPrescriber.com, since the company was founded in 1997. As of September 30, 2012, the estimated number of members currently insured by policies purchased through eHealth totaled 926,600.
"eHealth has been operating the leading national marketplace for people to find, compare and buy health insurance online, long before policymakers were talking about health insurance exchanges," said Gary Lauer, Chief Executive Officer of eHealth. "Our working national exchange has insured over 3 million consumers, approximately 35% of whom were previously uninsured1. Despite changes in the economy, public policy and the ever-changing forces of the Internet, we've consistently delivered the best consumer experience."
Lauer continued, "We've built an efficient and transparent online marketplace, supported by a world-class customer care center that is second to none. The long-standing relationship that we have with our customers is a testament to that success."
The milestone is one of many important business and technology advances in the growth of eHealth over time. The company has also helped move the Medicare plan research and enrollment process online through its PlanPrescriber.com (www.PlanPrescriber.com) and eHealthMedicare (www.eHealthMedicare.com) tools. More recently, eHealth has introduced a mobile health insurance exchange for the iPhone and Android platforms.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aims to reduce the nation's uninsured population by 30 million people, partly through the expansion of Medicaid programs, the individual mandate, federal government health insurance subsidies, and the creation of state-run health insurance exchanges scheduled to come online in 2014. As a private health insurance exchange, eHealth provides a proven, cost-effective channel through which consumers can access the quality health insurance coverage they need.
Under the ACA and its implementing regulations, states may permit web-based entities ("WBEs") like eHealth to enroll premium tax credit-eligible individuals into qualified health plans, thereby helping states to achieve 100% enrollment and giving low and middle income individuals the same enrollment options as wealthier citizens. With over 14 years' experience in creating and operating its own private health insurance exchange, eHealth is prepared to help states achieve their important enrollment goals for 2014 and beyond.
"We look forward to supporting individual states as they work towards meeting the goals of the ACA," said Mr. Lauer. "And we also look forward to helping many more millions of Americans find quality health coverage."
For more information on eHealth's technology solutions, go to www.ehealthtechnology.com.
Notes:
1 Source: eHealth, Inc. National Consumer Survey of Individual & Family Health Insurance Shoppers at eHealthInsurance.com, September 9, 2011, http://news.ehealthinsurance.com/pr/ehi/document/Call_Center_Survey_2011_FINAL.pdf
About eHealth
eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) is the parent company of eHealthInsurance, America'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 180 of the nation's leading health insurance companies. eHealthInsurance is licensed to sell health insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Through the company's eHealthTechnology solution (www.eHealthTechnology.com), eHealth is also a leading provider of health insurance exchange technology. eHealthTechnology's exchange platform provides a suite of hosted e-commerce solutions that enable health plan providers, resellers and government entities to market and distribute products online. eHealth, Inc. also provides powerful online and pharmacy-based tools to help seniors navigate Medicare health insurance options, choose the right plan and enroll in select plans online through its wholly-owned subsidiary, PlanPrescriber.com (www.planprescriber.com) and through its Medicare website www.eHealthMedicare.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements as defined within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements regarding the company's future role in supporting states in meeting goals of the Affordable Care Act and in helping Americans find quality health coverage. These forward-looking statements are inherently subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including risks associated with the impact of healthcare reform; eHealth's ability to maintain its relationship with health insurance carriers; eHealth's success in marketing and selling health insurance plans; eHealth's ability to hire, train and retain licensed health insurance agents for its business; eHealth's ability to enter into arrangements with states to be able to enroll tax-credit eligible individuals into health insurance and other factors described in eHealth's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and 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. eHealth does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in expectations.
For eHealth, Inc. media inquiries please contact:
Brian Mast
eHealth, Inc.
(650) 210-3149
brian.mast@ehealth.com
Nate Purpura
eHealth, Inc.
(650) 210-3115
nate.purpura@ehealth.com