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GoHealth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
GoHealth, Inc.
Company typePublic
NasdaqGOCO
IndustryHealthcare
Founded2001; 23 years ago (2001), in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Founders
  • Clint Jones
  • Brandon Cruz
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Area served
United States
Key people
Vijay Kotte (CEO)[1]
Brandon Cruz, (co-executive chairman)[1]
Jason Schulz, CFO[1]
Products
RevenueIncrease US$800 million (2020)[2]
Number of employees
1,500
Websitegohealth.com

GoHealth, Inc. (stylized as GoHealth) is an American marketplace for Medicare plans including Medicare Advantage, MediGap and Medicare Part D, which are programs administered through private health insurance companies.[3][4] It also operates an online health insurance marketplace offering individual health insurance and short-term health insurance.[5][6]

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).[5] This would allow GoHealth to enroll people in the same plans and offer the same tax-subsidies found on HealthCare.gov.[5] CMS signed the deal with a few private health insurance marketplaces including GoHealth[7] in an effort to provide affordable premiums from the increase in enrollment.[5]

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.[5] 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.[5] 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.[5][8] 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.[9]

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.[3]

GoHealth is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois,[10] with locations in Charlotte, North Carolina,[11] Lindon, Utah,[12] and Bratislava, Slovakia.[13]

History

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GoHealth, originally named Norvax, Inc., was founded in 2001[14] by Clint Jones and Brandon Cruz. The business initially started by creating websites and lead management software for insurance brokers.[15]

In 2008, then-company Norvax offered online comparison health insurance shopping.[16]

In 2009, Norvax, Inc. was renamed to GoHealth.[17]

In 2012, GoHealth received a $50 million investment from Norwest Equity Partners.[15][14]

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.[9][18]

In 2013, GoHealth purchased 90,000 sq. ft. in Merchandise Mart, expanding its Chicago locations to four.[19]

In 2015, ADP partnered with the company to help employees, who did not have employer health insurance coverage, enroll in subsidized health plans.[20]

In 2016, GoHealth opened a location in Charlotte, North Carolina.[11]

In 2018, GoHealth opened a location in Lindon, Utah.[12]

In 2019, Centerbridge Partners made a majority stake investment in GoHealth, with a valuation of approximately $1.5B (considered a unicorn status).[21][22][23] 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.[3] Norwest Equity Partners retained a stake in GoHealth,[24] while co-founders, Jones and Cruz, continued to hold substantial equity stake.[6]

GoHealth announced a plan to file for IPO in June 2020.[25][26]

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

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In 2015, GoHealth acquired software development company Creatix, based in Bratislava, Slovakia.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Vijay Kotte and Jason Schulz Join Gohealth Leadership Team as Company Enters New Phase of Value Creation".
  2. ^ "GoHealth Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results and Increases 2020 Outlook as a Result of Strong Medicare Enrollments and Operating Leverage".
  3. ^ a b c Pletz, John (2019-08-19). "Private-equity firm buys control of GoHealth in $1.5 billion deal". Crain's Chicago Business. Archived from the original on 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  4. ^ Murphy, H. Leee (2018-10-25). "Affordable Care Act a boon to Chicago's GoHealth". Crain's Chicago Business. Archived from the original on 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Mangan, Dan (2013-11-25). "Do not pass HealthCare.gov: New workaround for Obamacare enrollment". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  6. ^ a b Williams, Jordan (19 August 2019). "Centerbridge said to be close to $1.5bn GoHealth deal | AltAssets Private Equity News". Archived from the original on 2019-08-25. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  7. ^ "Picture of health". Crain's Chicago Business. 2014-11-15. Archived from the original on 2020-06-06. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  8. ^ Coombs, Bertha (2013-09-30). "Call centers standing by for Obamacare boost". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  9. ^ a b Frost, Peter. "GoHealth gets OK to sell subsidized health insurance". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-23. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  10. ^ "Take the first look inside the new GoHealth digs". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  11. ^ a b Fahey, Ashley (Oct 24, 2016). "GoHealth Insurance opens Charlotte office, adds 500-plus jobs". Charlotte Business Journal. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  12. ^ a b "GoHealth Expands Business Operations in Utah". Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development. 2018-06-14. Archived from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  13. ^ a b "GoHealth buys software firm". Crain's Chicago Business. 2015-09-01. Archived from the original on 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  14. ^ a b "With Obamacare Still In Play, GoHealth Lands $50M For Health Insurance Comparison Shopping". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  15. ^ a b "GoHealth's remedy for health-plan headaches". Modern Healthcare. 2012-11-12. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  16. ^ Blankenhorn, Dana. "What a competitive health insurance market looks like". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  17. ^ Zimmerman, Eilene (2013-03-27). "6 companies cashing in on Obamacare". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  18. ^ "We're now entering the post-HealthCare.gov phase of Obamacare". VentureBeat. 2013-11-27. Archived from the original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  19. ^ "GoHealth eyes new office in Merchandise Mart". Crain's Chicago Business. 2013-08-08. Archived from the original on 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  20. ^ Tracer, Zachary (6 August 2015). "ADP Helps Firms Set Up Their Own Health Insurance Market". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  21. ^ "Buyout firm Centerbridge makes major investment in GoHealth". Reuters. 2019-08-19. Archived from the original on 2020-04-16. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  22. ^ "GoHealth Receives Investment at Reported $1.5B Valuation". Built In Chicago. Archived from the original on 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  23. ^ Pletz, John (2019-08-20). "GoHealth joins a thin Chicago unicorn herd". Crain's Chicago Business. Archived from the original on 2019-12-02. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  24. ^ Beltran, Luisa (17 September 2019). "Norwest Equity Partners closes GoHealth sale to Centerbridge". Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  25. ^ Willhelm, Alex (July 8, 2020). "GoHealth eyes multibillion-dollar valuation as it sets its initial IPO price range". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  26. ^ Marotti, Ally (June 19, 2020). "Online health insurance marketplace GoHealth looks to raise $100 million through initial public stock offering". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
[edit]
  • Official website
  • Business data for GoHealth: