eHealth, the parent company of eHealthInsurance, has launched a new business unit, eHealth Government Systems, which will focus on the technology solutions required for new government-run health insurance exchanges.
eHealth Senior Vice President Sam Gibbs has been appointed president of the new unit.
The announcement comes less than a month after eHealth participated with Ceridian Exchange Services in the winning bid to help launch the Florida Health Choices virtual health insurance marketplace.
"Through the creation of our new Government Systems business unit, eHealth is signaling its intention to aggressively pursue new opportunities from a wide variety of government customers," said Gibbs. "As state governments plan for the introduction of consumer health insurance exchanges or roll out other innovative programs like Florida's, they will need proven, efficient technology solutions allowing them to focus on enrolling the tens of millions of uninsured Americans."
The Florida Health Choices program was established in 2008 to remove barriers between employees who want healthcare and providers who can offer it. The program is designed to allow small businesses to direct their employees to Florida Health Choices' online portal to compare and purchase affordable healthcare insurance, thus avoiding the complexities and administrative burdens often associated with selecting and purchasing traditional health coverage.
eHealth will provide the technology platform and software infrastructure for the new online marketplace's employer registration and employee utilization portals.
Ceridian, which provides health insurance exchange services, healthcare benefits, wellness program administration and outsourced payroll services, will be the service administrator for the marketplace, providing online eligibility and enrollment functions, payment processing, customer call centers, educational and community outreach programs and decision-support tools to help employers and employees make their health plan choices.
"We are very confident in Ceridian's ability to administer this marketplace in a way that is user-friendly, cost effective and scalable to meet the needs of millions of Floridians," said Aaron Bean, board chairman of Florida Health Choices, in an announcement of the winning bid.
Both eHealth and Ceridian are looking to the contract with Florida as a stepping stone to grabbing similar contracts as 48 states look to establish new health insurance exchanges as mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
"Since states must move quickly, their selection of a reliable and experienced service partner is crucial," said Bart Valdez, president of Ceridian Exchange Services. "Ceridian can help states streamline administrative processes, cost-effectively manage complex payment transactions and encourage enrollment through compelling healthcare education programs."
