SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB) May 04, 2020
Leading health technology company HealthSherpa announced today that they have processed more than 10,000 Medicaid applications since launching their nationwide mobile-friendly Medicaid and CHIP application in November. HealthSherpa has seen a staggering increase in Medicaid applications with March applications up 87% over February applications and April applications 65% higher than March, making April applications more than 200% higher than pre-COVID-19 levels.
Medicaid and CHIP are comprehensive low- or no-cost health coverage programs for qualifying low-income Americans, administered and funded jointly by individual states and the federal government.
“Medicaid applications on HealthSherpa.com have skyrocketed since COVID-19 has sparked high unemployment and underemployment and has caused more people to be eligible for Medicaid coverage. We’re processing three times the monthly applications now than what we were processing before the pandemic began,” said George Kalogeropoulos, CEO of HealthSherpa.
Nearly 1 in 4 Americans, over 70 million in total, qualify for Medicaid or CHIP, but as of 2016 more than 8 million Americans who are eligible for these programs remained uninsured. This is partly due to technological hurdles that limit access for eligible Americans. Even though 1 in 3 low-income Americans rely on smartphones for internet access, 7 states do not support applications via a mobile device, and 24 additional states host an application that is not mobile-friendly.
HealthSherpa.com provides a fully compliant, mobile-friendly application experience. After applying, consumers receive an initial assessment of their eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP via HealthSherpa’s backend integration with the Federal Marketplace, and the application is forwarded to the state Medicaid office for the final eligibility decision. Consumers gain access to a free HealthSherpa dashboard to help them manage their health coverage. This dashboard contains their eligibility notice, information about how to follow up with their state Medicaid office, and resources for finding low or no-cost care while their application is being reviewed. Plus, if their income eventually increases, they can seamlessly update their application and transition into Marketplace coverage with government subsidies.
“HealthSherpa is working with tens of thousands of insurance brokers, large employers, and nonprofits to help the growing number of uninsured Americans get comprehensive health insurance coverage,” Kalogeropoulos said “We’ve enrolled over 3 million people in Marketplace coverage, helped hundreds of thousands apply for Medicaid and CHIP via Healthcare.gov, and have now facilitated applications from 10,000 households through our mobile-friendly Medicaid application.”
About HealthSherpa
HealthSherpa partners with large employers, insurers, and insurance agents to support consumers searching for, enrolling in, and using high quality, affordable health insurance coverage. HealthSherpa only sells ACA marketplace plans, which have built-in consumer protections, and since its founding in 2014, has enrolled over 3 million Americans in Affordable Care Act coverage. For more information, visit http://www.healthsherpa.com.
For press inquiries, contact Divya Raghavan at divya@healthsherpa.com