Pivot Health Experiences Spike in Search Traffic After Coronavirus Layoffs and Furloughs Surged in the U.S.

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pivot Health, a division of HealthCare.com, a leader in technology-enabled health insurance solutions, today offered evidence about what the uninsured can do for health insurance coverage, especially those that have suffered hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From June 15-June 22 Pivot Health saw an 18% jump in week-over-week inbound search traffic for COBRA-related searches. In addition, COBRA-related keyword searches to the company's website are up 153% overall for 29-days between May-June versus the 29 days in February. Pivot Health saw search traffic soar in the month of March, stabilize in April, and has seen a new pattern of higher search traffic overall in May and June.

Jobless claims peaked at more than 40 million, and while the numbers have begun to decrease as more businesses slowly open back up, it doesn't serve the immediate need for millions of unemployed workers who wait to get back to their jobs or search for a new area of employment. As of the end of May, the unemployment rate in the U.S. was more than 13% and it's estimated that nearly 27 million people have become uninsured.

COBRA insurance, which is meant for employees who lose their employer-based group insurance, requires individuals to pay 100% of their monthly premium cost in addition to a 2% administration fee. They are able to keep the coverage they had, but considering employers pay 50% or more of the monthly premium cost, COBRA is many times unattainable for the newly unemployed to absorb. Individuals need to weigh the monthly cost against how much of their health plan deductible has already been used during the calendar year - and what additional medical care they expect to use while unemployed.

Pivot Health is a marketer of short-term health insurance which is temporary insurance meant to help the newly uninsured while they seek permanent major medical coverage from an employer. The plans are some of the most economical in the market and can provide coverage for unexpected accidents or illnesses that suddenly emerge.

"Short-term health insurance is a temporary option for those looking to just get coverage for a few months while they wait for their employer insurance coverage to begin or re-start," said Jeff Smedsrud, chief executive officer of Pivot Health. "While many don't anticipate having a sudden accident or illness strike over the course of just a few months, the company has paid out millions in claims, the largest being over $537,000 in medical expenses. There have been multiple medical bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I'm grateful these individuals had health insurance coverage instead of being uninsured when illness struck."

If short-term health plans are still financially unaffordable, Pivot Health advises individuals to look into Medicaid which might be the best option if total household income is below the 100% federal poverty line. Many states have loosened restrictions around Medicaid eligibility and state websites can provide guidelines for qualifying and applying. Another option is the federal marketplace or state exchanges that offer financial subsidies to individuals who qualify for assistance on Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans.

"The uninsured shouldn't feel hopeless while they wait for jobs to come back or look for new career paths. There are multiple options available for them right now," said Smedsrud.

About Pivot Health (a HealthCare.com company)
Launched in 2016, Pivot Health is an insurance product development, management and marketing company led by an experienced team of health insurance professionals that have managed over $7 billion of insurance premium. The company has proprietary products and dedicated relationships with several national carriers. Pivot Health was acquired in 2018 by HealthCare.com, the nation's largest privately-owned search-and-compare health insurance shopping platform. For more information, visit www.pivothealth.com and www.healthcare.com.