HealthSherpa Simplifies Federal Healthcare Marketplace Sign-Ups During Open Enrollment Period

San Francisco (PRWEB) October 18, 2016

HealthSherpa, the premier technology solution streamlining accessibility to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace, today announced enhancements in the navigation of its website, simplifying the process of finding and enrolling in a health plan. Based on experience enrolling more than 500,000 to the ACA Marketplace, HealthSherpa is prepared for the extra support required and has doubled the number of consumer advocates available for guidance. These updates will effectively optimize health insurance sign-ups during the open enrollment period, November 1, 2016 – January 31, 2017.

"Finding and enrolling in a health plan has proven to be frustrating, daunting and exhaustive at best," said Catherine "Cat" Perez, co-founder and chief product officer of HealthSherpa. "This is why we spend lots of time conducting interviews, running usability testing, sending out surveys, and working very closely with our front line and customer service team, the consumer advocates. Combined with quantitative insights, it helps us continuously improve the HealthSherpa experience across all channels. The goal is seamless self-enrollment with easy access to our consumer advocates for extra guidance. Our advocates have a unique and valuable perspective because they hail from nonprofit and social work backgrounds, thus driven by empathy rather than sales."

Examples of HealthSherpa website enhancements include an income calculator, decision support, generated recommendations, and budgeting features to provide more self-service and guidance for people to make informed decisions when choosing and enrolling in a health insurance plan.

Phone calls with consumer advocates are also encouraged to facilitate enrollment for all populations – from part-time and seasonal employees to independent contractors who file Form 1099, those in career transitions who qualify for COBRA, as well as early retirees under 65 years old or those eligible for retirement. HealthSherpa's consumer advocates are available seven days a week and year-round.

Agents also use HealthSherpa to enroll people in marketplace coverage. HealthSherpa's agent base has grown 300%, increasing from 4,000 in 2015 to 13,000 in 2016.This allows even more channels for consumers to identify the best healthcare coverage that will fit their budgets and healthcare needs.

In October, HealthSherpa opened a new storefront in downtown Sacramento, California, allowing people to schedule in-person meetings with consumer advocates to enroll in health insurance. The office is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To schedule an appointment, call (855) 772-2663, email customer_support(at)healthsherpa(dot)com, or visit http://www.HealthSherpa.com and click the Schedule Appointment link under Contact.

About Healthsherpa
HealthSherpa is the premier technology solution streamlining accessibility to the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) Federal Healthcare Marketplace. Launched alongside Healthcare.gov in 2013, HealthSherpa has enrolled 500,000+ people across more than 200 carriers. HealthSherpa has partnerships with private brands, nonprofits and more than 12,000 insurance agents/brokers to support consumer enrollment. Backed by leading investors including Eric Schmidt (former CEO of Google) and Mitch Kapor (founder and CEO of Lotus, Kapor Center for Social Impact), HealthSherpa's mission is to help every American feel the comfort and security of having health coverage. The company delivers innovation, technology, and customer service by real people to make the Healthcare Marketplace easier to understand, faster to sign up, and simpler to use. Learn more at http://www.HealthSherpa.com.

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