eHealth CEO Scott Flanders in Meeting at White House Today: “Middle-class buying their own health insurance need ACA reforms now, including liberation from the failed Healthcare.gov”
eHealth’s CEO Scott Flanders joined more than 20 technology leaders at the White House today to discuss ways to spur innovation and job creation across America with key administration officials
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA. – April 27, 2017 – Scott Flanders, CEO of eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH), said today that “Healthcare.gov has been a disaster for American consumers because its technology does not measure up to basic expectations for an ecommerce platform,” when he met with Chris Liddell, Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives, White House Office of American Innovation.
In the meeting with White House officials and other tech leaders, Mr. Flanders also urged the swift passage of legislation to stabilize the individual health insurance market in advance of the upcoming open enrollment period for 2018 health insurance plans.
Comments from Mr. Flanders include:
“Our customers are hard-working, middle-class Americans who often do not qualify for government health insurance subsidies and they’re being crushed by massive price increases. I’m concerned by the lack of urgency in Washington to provide these people with relief.”
“It’s time to put politics aside and pass legislation that protects the critical gains made by the Affordable Care Act for low-income people and those with pre-existing medical conditions. New legislation must be passed to provide relief for middle-income Americans who work extremely hard to build businesses and stand on their own two feet, but who receive zero relief from these crushing price hikes.”
“I take great exception with those who would call refundable tax credits for self-employed Americans a new entitlement, if they’re unwilling to acknowledge that employer-based insurance is a $250 billion entitlement we’ve granted to most Americans for more than five decades in this country.”
In an April 19, 2017 email survey of over 1,400 eHealth customers, two trends were abundantly clear: skyrocketing prices continue to plague people who buy their own health insurance and many have given up hope of legislative reform to improve the Affordable Care Act. 93 percent of respondents called for either complete repeal or changes to Obamacare while over 60 percent lack confidence that a solution will happen this year.
Are you in favor of repeal & replace today?
Complete Repeal |
Replace or change |
Hands off Obamacare |
29% |
64% |
7% |
How confident are you that we’ll see changes to the ACA in 2017?
Very confident |
Somewhat confident |
Somewhat unconfident |
Not confident at all |
8% |
30% |
35% |
27% |
Working for the Consumer
People who buy their own health insurance have been harmed by regulations that made it difficult to use eHealth’s ecommerce tools to shop for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
eHealth has pioneered the development of critical tools that Healthcare.gov has never matched, including:
- Prescription drug tools: eHealth customers can compare health plans using their prescription drugs and find plans that give them the lowest total out-of-pocket cost.
- 5-minute mobile-friendly, subsidy applications: At one point consumers could apply for tax credits at eHealth much more easily - 18% of applicants finished their applications in five-minutes or less, and 50% completed the applications in less than 10 minutes. Because of government regulations this functionality is not currently available in this form.
- No waiting rooms: After 4 years, Healthcare.gov still puts customers in waiting rooms on deadline days, which has forced government officials to extend the open enrollment period deadlines every year since 2014.
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eHealth
eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) owns eHealth.com, the nation's first and largest private online 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. eHealth offers thousands of individual, family and small business health plans underwritten by many of the nation's leading health insurance companies. eHealth (through its subsidiaries) is licensed to sell health insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. eHealth also offers educational resources and 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 Medicare.com (www.Medicare.com), eHealthMedicare.com (www.eHealthMedicare.com) and PlanPrescriber.com (www.PlanPrescriber.com).
For more health insurance news and information, visit eHealth's Consumer Resource Center.