GoHealth, Inc. is an American marketplace for Medicare plans including

Medicare Advantage Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C, MA) is a capitated program for providing Medicare benefits in the United States. Under Part C, Medicare pays a private-sector health insurer a fixed payment. The insurer then pays for the health care expense ...

MediGap Medigap (also called Medicare supplement insurance or Medicare supplemental insurance) refers to various private health insurance plans sold to supplement Medicare in the United States. Medigap insurance provides coverage for many of the co-pays ...

and

Medicare Part D Medicare Part D, also called the Medicare prescription drug benefit, is an optional United States federal-government program to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for self-administered prescription drugs. Part D was enacted as part of the Medi ...

, which are programs administered through private health insurance companies. It also operates an online

health insurance marketplace In the United States, health insurance marketplaces, also called health exchanges, are organizations in each state through which people can purchase health insurance. People can purchase health insurance that complies with the Patient Protection ...

offering individual health insurance and short-term health insurance. 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 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer M ...

(CMS). This would allow GoHealth to enroll people in the same plans and offer the same tax-subsidies found on

HealthCare.gov HealthCare.gov is a health insurance exchange website operated by the United States federal government under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act or ACA, commonly referred to as “Obamacare”, which currently serves the residents of the ...

. CMS signed the deal with a few private health insurance marketplaces including GoHealth in an effort to provide affordable premiums from the increase in enrollment. In 2013, GoHealth acted as the first of the private health insurance marketplaces to enroll Americans in subsidy-eligible

ObamaCare The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress The 111th Unit ...

plans, following the technical challenges from HealthCare.gov's launch. 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. 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. 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. In 2016, after growth from the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

slowed and following the departure of the former President Barack Obama from office, GoHealth turned its focus to Medicare. GoHealth is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with locations in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lindon, Utah, and Bratislava, Slovakia.

History

GoHealth, originally named Norvax, Inc., was founded in 2001 by Clint Jones and Brandon Cruz. The business initially started by creating websites and lead management software for insurance brokers. In 2008, then-company Norvax offered online comparison health insurance shopping. In 2009, Norvax, Inc. was renamed to GoHealth. In 2012, GoHealth received a $50 million investment from Norwest Equity Partners. 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 The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

, otherwise known as Obamacare. In 2013, GoHealth purchased 90,000 sq. ft. in Merchandise Mart, expanding its Chicago locations to four. In 2015, ADP partnered with the company to help employees, who did not have employer health insurance coverage, enroll in subsidized health plans. In 2016, GoHealth opened a location in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2018, GoHealth opened a location in Lindon, Utah. In 2019, Centerbridge Partners made a majority stake investment in GoHealth, with a valuation of approximately $1.5B (considered a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicor ...

status). 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. Norwest Equity Partners retained a stake in GoHealth, while co-founders, Jones and Cruz, continued to hold substantial equity stake. GoHealth announced a plan to file for IPO in June 2020. 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.

References

External links

* {{authority control Online insurance companies American companies established in 2001 Health care companies established in 2001 Financial services companies established in 2001 Health insurance companies of the United States Companies based in Chicago 2001 establishments in Illinois Insurance companies based in Illinois 2020 initial public offerings Companies listed on the Nasdaq