GoHealth
Medicare marketplace
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
GoHealth, Inc. doing business as GoHealth,[3] is an American marketplace for Medicare plans including Medicare Advantage, MediGap and Medicare Part D, which are programs administered through private health insurance companies.[4][5] It also operates an online health insurance marketplace offering individual health insurance and short-term health insurance.[6][7]
 | |
| GoHealth | |
| Company type | Public |
| Nasdaq: GOCO | |
| Industry | Healthcare |
| Founded | 2001, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Vijay Kotte (CEO)[1] Brandon Cruz, (co-executive chairman)[1] Jason Schulz (CFO)[1] |
| Products |
|
| Revenue |  US$800 million (2020)[2] |
Number of employees | 1,500 |
| Website | gohealth |
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).[6] This would allow GoHealth to enroll people in the same plans and offer the same tax-subsidies found on HealthCare.gov.[6] CMS signed the deal with a few private health insurance marketplaces including GoHealth[8] in an effort to provide affordable premiums from the increase in enrollment.[6]
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.[6] 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.[6] 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.[6][9] 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.[10]
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.[4]
GoHealth is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois,[11] with locations in Charlotte, North Carolina,[12] Lindon, Utah,[13] and Bratislava, Slovakia.[14]
History
GoHealth, originally named Norvax, Inc., was founded in 2001[15] by Clint Jones and Brandon Cruz. The business initially started by creating websites and lead management software for insurance brokers.[16]
In 2008, then-company Norvax offered online comparison health insurance shopping.[17]
In 2009, Norvax, Inc. was renamed to GoHealth.[18]
In 2012, GoHealth received a $50 million investment from Norwest Equity Partners.[16][15]
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.[10][19]
In 2013, GoHealth purchased 90,000 sq. ft. in Merchandise Mart, expanding its Chicago locations to four.[20]
In 2015, ADP partnered with the company to help employees, who did not have employer health insurance coverage, enroll in subsidized health plans.[21]
In 2016, GoHealth opened a location in Charlotte, North Carolina.[12]
In 2018, GoHealth opened a location in Lindon, Utah.[13]
In 2019, Centerbridge Partners made a majority stake investment in GoHealth, with a valuation of approximately $1.5B (considered a unicorn status).[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.[4] Norwest Equity Partners retained a stake in GoHealth,[25] while co-founders, Jones and Cruz, continued to hold substantial equity stake.[7]
GoHealth announced a plan to file for IPO in June 2020.[26][27]
On June 6, 2022, GoHealth announced its appointing of Vijay Kotte as CEO and Jason Schulz as CFO effective immediately. Co-founder and current chief executive officer, Clint Jones, would then become the Executive Chairman of the Board.
Acquisitions
In 2015, GoHealth acquired software development company Creatix, based in Bratislava, Slovakia.[14]