eHealth E-commerce Platform to Power Online Sales for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Innovative Technology to Be Employed by Massachusetts' Largest Health Insurance Provider
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/30/07 -- eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH), the parentcompany of eHealthInsurance, today announced that it is licensing itshealth insurance e-commerce platform to Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMassachusetts.
The licensing agreement provides individuals and families in Massachusettswith access to eHealth's proprietary health insurance shoppingtechnology, allowing them to review quotes, compare plans side by side andapply for coverage through the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusettswebsite. The platform also makes it easy for consumers to find the planbest suited to their health care needs, confirm their preferred doctors arecovered and complete the application process with electronic signature andpayment options.
"We are pleased to play a role in the exciting and dynamic health insurancemarketplace of Massachusetts," said eHealth Chief Executive Officer, GaryLauer. "When the Massachusetts Health Care Reform bill was signed intolaw, it created a new individual health insurance market and challengedinsurers to develop that market to address the needs of the uninsured. Ourpowerful e-commerce platform will help Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMassachusetts meet that challenge head on by delivering the best healthinsurance shopping experience available in the market today."
"Utilizing eHealth's shopping technology to bring our products toconsumers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is making it easier forindividuals and families to find the health plan best suited to theirneeds," said Steve Booma, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts ExecutiveVice President of Sales, Marketing, Service and IT. Blue Cross Blue Shieldof Massachusetts is using the new platform to power all direct onlinesales. All of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' individual andfamily health insurance plans are now made available online utilizingeHealth's technology.
About eHealth, Inc.:
eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) is the parent company of eHealthInsurance, thenation's leading online source of health insurance for individuals,families and small businesses. Through the company's website,www.ehealthinsurance.com, consumers can get quotes from leading healthinsurance carriers, compare plans side by side, and apply for and purchasehealth insurance. eHealthInsurance offers more than 7,000 health insuranceproducts underwritten by more than 160 of the nation's leading healthinsurance companies. eHealthInsurance is licensed to sell health insurancein all 50 states and the District of Columbia. eHealthInsurance and eHealthare registered trademarks of eHealthInsurance Services, Inc.
About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts:
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (www.bluecrossma.com) was founded70 years ago by a group of community-minded business leaders. Today,headquartered in Boston, BCBSMA provides coverage to 3 million members.BCBSMA believes in rewarding doctors and hospitals for delivering safe andeffective care, and in empowering patients to take more responsibility,become educated health care consumers and become stronger partners withtheir doctors. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an independentlicensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
About the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Bill:
The Massachusetts Health Care Reform bill aims to provide health insurancecoverage to residents of Massachusetts through a combination of Medicaidexpansions, subsidized private insurance programs and insurance marketreforms. The bill includes a mandate requiring that Massachusettsresidents who are otherwise uninsured purchase an individual or familyhealth insurance plan where affordable options are available. For moreinformation on the Massachusetts Health Care Reform bill, click here.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined withinthe Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These includestatements regarding the Massachusetts Health Care Reform bill creating anew individual health insurance market, the eHealth e-commerce platformhelping Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts meet the needs of theuninsured by delivering the best health insurance shopping experienceavailable in the market today, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusettsmaking it easier for individuals and families to find the health plan bestsuited to their needs by utilizing eHealth's shopping technology and theavailability of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' individual andfamily health insurance plans online utilizing eHealth's technology. Theseforward-looking statements are inherently subject to various risks anduncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from thestatements made, including risks associated with the impact of legislation;Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' success in marketing its onlinesales; system failures, malfunctions, bugs or capacity constraints; theperformance, reliability and availability of the platform and underlyingnetwork infrastructure; e-commerce security risks; Blue Cross Blue Shieldof Massachusetts' resource allocation; the success of the relationshipbetween eHealth and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; compliancewith insurance and other laws and regulations and changes in laws andregulations. Other factors that could cause operating, financial and otherresults to differ are described in eHealth's most recent Quarterly Reporton Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission andavailable on the investor relations page of eHealth's website atwww.ehealthinsurance.com and on the Securities and Exchange Commission'swebsite at www.sec.gov. Neither eHealth nor Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMassachusetts undertake any obligation to update any forward-lookingstatement to conform the statement to actual results or changes inexpectations. eHealth is not the author of the summary of theMassachusetts Health Care Reform Bill Summary linked or attached to thispress release and takes no responsibility for its contents.
eHealth Contacts:
Sande Drew
(650) 210-3107
Karen Auby
(650) 210-3186
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Contact:
Chris Murphy
(617) 246-4851