Wellthie, a health insurance navigator that seeks to make employees better informed on health insurance options, has added a small business insurance product that provides a group-to individual program. It emphasizes the value of a health plan’s small group or individual coverage options under the same health plan provider, according to a company statement.
The original platform for small business focused solely on small group options.
It helps employers view eligibility and calculations for Affordable Care Act tax credits and penalties. It also includes scenario planning tools and cost breakdowns on a monthly and annual basis for employers and employees. Guidelines for employees are also part of the package.
“Small businesses are looking for cost-effective alternatives in this new health insurance landscape,” Wellthie CEO Sally Poblete said. “The health plans that partner with the small business community will reap long-term enrollment benefits regardless of the employers’ immediate coverage decision.”
She noted in the statement that the availability of tax credits from Affordable Care Act and upcoming expansion of small groups to include business up to 100 employees has spurred this trend.
In an interview with MedCity News last year, Poblete said that the company planned to roll out a platform for business owners to help them make decisions about employee coverage, such as whether to offer an employer plan or individual plans that employers help fund. The company licenses its product marketing software to insurance companies to highlight insurers’ plans and help them better understand the costs by giving estimates on users’ premium costs. The company is also part of the StartUp Health Academy.
Several startups have jumped into the health insurance industry with tools from health literacy such as Stride Health and Bloom Health to actual insurance plans like Oscar, as well as Collective Health, which helps employers build customized insurance plans. Last year heath insurance companies raised $308 million across 32 venture rounds, according to CrunchBase data, cited by TechCrunch.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
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