GoHealth

GoHealth is a marketplace for Medicare plans including Medicare Advantage, MediGap and Medicare Part D, which are programs administered through private health insurance companies.[2][3] It also operates an online health insurance marketplace offering individual health insurance and short-term health insurance.[4][5]

GoHealth
Public
Traded asNASDAQ: GOCO
IndustryHealthcare
Founded2001 (2001) in Chicago, Illinois, United States
FounderClint Jones, Brandon Cruz
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois, USA
Area served
United States
Key people
Clint Jones, CEO[1]
Brandon Cruz, Co-executive Chairman[1]
Jim Sharman, President[1]
Products
Websitewww.gohealth.com

In 2012, GoHealth became a government-approved exchange after a deal was signed into place by the Obama administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).[4] This would allow GoHealth to enroll people in the same plans and offer the same tax-subsidies found on HealthCare.gov.[4] CMS signed the deal with a few private health insurance marketplaces including GoHealth[6] in an effort to provide affordable premiums from the increase in enrollment.[4]

In 2013, GoHealth acted as the first of the private health insurance marketplaces to enroll Americans in subsidy-eligible Obamacare plans, following the technical challenges from HealthCare.gov's launch.[4] Soon after a fix for broker functionality was implemented on HealthCare.gov, the company utilized their call centers to help Americans enroll in both on-exchange and off-exchange plans while on the phone.[4] While customers had the ability to start the enrollment process using GoHealth's website, speaking with a representative allowed for the company to confirm a person's eligibility for subsidies and complete enrollment.[4][7] The regulatory approval to enroll people in these plans only applied to residents from the 36 states that used the federal insurance exchange in lieu of a state exchange.[8]

In 2016, after growth from the Affordable Care Act slowed and following the departure of the former President Barack Obama from office, GoHealth turned its focus to Medicare.[2]

GoHealth is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois,[9] with locations in Charlotte, North Carolina,[10] Lindon, Utah,[11] and Bratislava, Slovakia.[12]

History

GoHealth, originally named Norvax, Inc., was founded in 2001[13] by Clint Jones and Brandon Cruz. The business initially started by creating websites and lead management software for insurance brokers.[14] [15]

In 2008, then-company Norvax offered online comparison health insurance shopping.[16]

In 2009, Norvax, Inc. was renamed to GoHealth.[17]

In 2012, GoHealth received a $50 million investment from Norwest Equity Partners.[14] [13]

In 2013, GoHealth was appointed by the federal government to enroll eligible residents from 36 states in subsidized health exchange-based plans, made available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.[8] [18]

In 2013, GoHealth purchased 90,000 sq. ft. in Merchandise Mart, expanding its Chicago locations to four.[19]

In 2015, ADP partnered with the company to help employees, who did not have employer health insurance coverage, enroll in subsidized health plans.[20]

In 2016, GoHealth opened a location in Charlotte, North Carolina.[10]

In 2018, GoHealth opened a location in Lindon, Utah.[11]

In 2019, Centerbridge Partners made a majority stake investment in GoHealth, with a valuation of approximately $1.5B (considered a unicorn status).[21] [22] [23] [24] The purchase became the largest of any Chicago-based technology company within the previous five years, and topped IBM's purchase of $1.3 billion for Cleversafe and SAP's purchase of $974 million for Fieldglass.[2] Norwest Equity Partners retained a stake in GoHealth,[25] while co-founders, Jones and Cruz, continued to hold substantial equity stake.[5]

GoHealth announced a plan to file for IPO in June 2020.[26][27]

Acquisitions

In 2015, GoHealth acquired software development company Creatix, based in Bratislava, Slovakia.[12]

References
  1. GoHealth. "GoHealth - Executive Leadership". Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  2. "Private-equity firm buys control of GoHealth in $1.5 billion deal". Crain's Chicago Business. 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  3. "Affordable Care Act a boon to Chicago's GoHealth". Crain's Chicago Business. 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  4. Mangan, Dan (2013-11-25). "Do not pass HealthCare.gov: New workaround for Obamacare enrollment". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  5. Williams, Jordan. "Centerbridge said to be close to $1.5bn GoHealth deal | AltAssets Private Equity News". Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  6. "Picture of health". Crain's Chicago Business. 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  7. Coombs, Bertha (2013-09-30). "Call centers standing by for Obamacare boost". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  8. Frost, Peter. "GoHealth gets OK to sell subsidized health insurance". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  9. "Take the first look inside the new GoHealth digs". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  10. Fahey, Ashley (Oct 24, 2016). "GoHealth Insurance opens Charlotte office, adds 500-plus jobs". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  11. "GoHealth Expands Business Operations in Utah". Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  12. "GoHealth buys software firm". Crain's Chicago Business. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  13. "With Obamacare Still In Play, GoHealth Lands $50M For Health Insurance Comparison Shopping". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  14. "GoHealth's remedy for health-plan headaches". Modern Healthcare. 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  15. "GoHealth". Crunchbase. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  16. Blankenhorn, Dana. "What a competitive health insurance market looks like". ZDNet. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  17. Zimmerman, Eilene (2013-03-27). "6 companies cashing in on Obamacare". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  18. "We're now entering the post-HealthCare.gov phase of Obamacare". VentureBeat. 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  19. "GoHealth eyes new office in Merchandise Mart". Crain's Chicago Business. 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  20. Tracer, Zachary (6 August 2015). "ADP Helps Firms Set Up Their Own Health Insurance Market". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  21. "Buyout firm Centerbridge makes major investment in GoHealth". Reuters. 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  22. "GoHealth acquired by Centerbridge Partners LP". Crunchbase. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  23. "GoHealth Receives Investment at Reported $1.5B Valuation". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  24. "GoHealth joins a thin Chicago unicorn herd". Crain's Chicago Business. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  25. Beltran, Luisa (17 September 2019). "Norwest Equity Partners closes GoHealth sale to Centerbridge". Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  26. Willhelm, Alex (July 8, 2020). "GoHealth eyes multibillion-dollar valuation as it sets its initial IPO price range". TechCrunch. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  27. Marotti, Ally (June 19, 2020). "Online health insurance marketplace GoHealth looks to raise $100 million through initial public stock offering". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.