- Covered California for Small Business tops 40,000 members — a 30 percent year-over-year growth.
- This new partnership means more health insurance choices for employees of California small businesses.
- EaseCentral’s technology will help consumers and businesses save money by improving efficiencies, reducing errors and speeding up the application-approval process.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A partnership with EaseCentral is the latest advancement for Covered California for Small Business, which has seen its enrollment steadily grow from 14,183 in 2014 to more than 40,000 as of Dec. 1, 2017.
The new partnership, announced on Wednesday, will help the exchange continue its strong growth. Earlier in 2017, Covered California for Small Business announced its 2018 statewide weighted average rate increase of 5.6 percent for employers and their employees, which is down from the 5.9 percent increase in 2017. This was great news for the California small-business community.
EaseCentral will include Covered California for Small Business in its integrated software platform. Employees of small businesses across the state will be able to log on and see the plan choices provided through Covered California for Small Business. The automated system will lead to cost savings and an improved enrollment process for certified agents and the small businesses they work with across the state.
Covered California for Small Business will be offering five health plans in 2018, including two preferred provider organization (PPO) plans with full provider networks, from Blue Shield of California and Health Net, and two health maintenance organizations (HMO) that are provider- and hospital-based, from Kaiser Permanente and Sharp Health Plan. Rounding out the 2018 portfolio is Chinese Community Health Plan in San Francisco.
Businesses with up to 100 employees can apply for health insurance coverage for their workers through Covered California for Small Business. Federal tax credits may be available to employers with 25 or fewer employees. The partnership with EaseCentral will bring these options and choices to business owners across the state.
“By adding this partnership to the many ways we support small business, tens of thousands of small businesses who use EaseCentral will enjoy better connectivity with Certified Insurance Agents and general agents, making enrolling in Covered California for Small Business even easier,” said Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California. “It is time to move the small-business marketplace into the 21st century’s web-enabled world of e-commerce. It’s a faster, better and a much less costly way of doing business.”
The immediate beneficiaries of this partnership will be California small businesses that provide health care coverage to their employees, since it will virtually eliminate paper enrollment applications and will enable them to renew and perform account maintenance transactions through Covered California for Small Business’s online portals. EaseCentral’s technology can reduce the costs of enrollment and ultimately those savings can be transferred to their employees.
“We believe in technology’s ability to make health care easier,” said David Reid, CEO and cofounder of EaseCentral. “Additionally, the subsequent cost savings are crucial, especially for small businesses. Automation opens the door to reallocating resources, costs and time to other aspects of the company. Time and time again, we’ve seen that investing in the adoption of these tools has a positive impact on the bottom line, in almost every case.”
The partnership will also give more choice to the California small businesses that currently use EaseCentral. The integration was tested by Claremont Insurance Services, a sales leader for Covered California for Small Business. Company president Michael Traynor said his company saw “significant operational efficiencies” while using the platform.
Visit www.CoveredCA.com/forsmallbusiness/for information on how to apply.
About Covered California
Covered California is the state’s health insurance marketplace, where Californians can find affordable, high-quality insurance from top insurance companies. Covered California is the only place where individuals who qualify can get financial assistance on a sliding scale to reduce premium costs. Consumers can then compare health insurance plans and choose the plan that works best for their health needs and budget. Depending on their income, some consumers may qualify for the low-cost or no-cost Medi-Cal program.
Covered California is an independent part of the state government whose job is to make the health insurance marketplace work for California’s consumers. It is overseen by a five-member board appointed by the governor and the legislature. For more information about Covered California, please visit www.CoveredCA.com.
