Startups, Payers

EaseCentral is giving big enterprise benefits tools to small businesses

The company recently signed deals with venture-backed health insurance startup Oscar Health and Anthem Blue Cross to integrate their benefit plan options onto the EaseCentral platform. 

San Francisco-based EaseCentral has integrated two major payer partners onto its health plan and HR platform as it looks to modernize the benefits space for small and mid-sized employers. 

Traditionally these companies have administered their benefits and health insurance in a largely paper based system consisting of thick binders of plan information and lag between enrollment and when benefits actually kick in.

EaseCentral’s technology allows small business to enroll and manage their benefit offerings, on-board employees an perform HR functions like payroll, performance reviews and compliance tracking in one cloud-based platform.

It’s true that this sort of technology is not new. Companies like SAP, Workday and Oracle have been producing similar software for years, however, these solutions have generally been geared at large enterprises.

Also in contrast to some of the aforementioned companies and startup benefits and HR providers that have emerged in recent years like San Francisco-based Zenefits and Gusto, the company’s main market are the insurance brokers who already have established relationships with businesses.

“Employers still want that broker relationships because they’re the ones that understand the specific dynamics of their market and can tell you which HMO is best in a geographic area” said EaseCentral co-founder and CEO David Reid in a phone interview.

“It’s true that most carriers have their own platforms, but businesses are saying I want one place where I can have Benefits, HR, payroll, everything in one place.”

Reid, a longtime insurance broker himself before starting the company, said the company decided to target brokers to leverage an already effective distribution system, but giving them the tools to upgrade their benefits systems.

The introduction of a younger workforce have underscored the necessity of creating a better user experience and utilizing consumer technology, even in industries traditionally resistant to change.

Even the bluest collar of groups, the brokers are now going out with iPads,” Reid said. “Fourteen percent of open enrollment this year happened on mobile devices, and that’s going to be significantly higher next year.” 

Both established and upstart payers are taking notice. The company recently signed deals with venture-backed health insurance startup Oscar Health and Anthem Blue Cross to integrate their benefit plan options onto the EaseCentral platform.

The new partnerships streamlines the process for employers to setup and enroll in Oscar Health and Anthem Blue Cross plans, as well as creating easier pathways for data-sharing.

The 95-person company was started in 2012 and has raised more than $8.5 million in venture capital funding. According to data provided by the company EaseCentral serves 50,000 employers which equates to 1.2 million covered lives.

Last year the company made $4.6 million in revenue and has seen revenue growth of more than 1,000 percent over the past three years.

One other factor driving their business growth is the rise in high-deductible health plans, which are often paired with other benefit offerings like Health Savings Accounts, adding another level of complexity highlighting the need for better decision making tools and better user interfaces.

Picture: CifoTart, Getty Images

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