Experian Healthcare launches tool to enable providers to identify and help enroll eligible individuals for health insurance exchange (HIX) subsidized programs

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Experian Healthcare, a leading provider of revenue cycle products; consultative services; and data for health systems, hospitals and medical groups, today announced the launch of a new tool that helps healthcare providers identify patients who meet the income requirements to receive health insurance exchange (HIX) tax credits and federal subsidies, and assists with the automation of the enrollment process by prepopulating the state's HIX application form.

As part of the Affordable Care Act individual mandate, U.S. citizens and legal residents will be required to have qualifying health coverage starting in 2014. Those who do not have insurance through their employer or through Medicaid or Medicare will have the option to go to a new HIX marketplace in their state to enroll in a private healthcare plan. Open enrollment in the exchanges will last from Oct. 1, 2013, through March 31, 2014; coverage will begin as early as Jan. 1, 2014.

"Medical bills can sometimes be difficult to collect, especially when treating patients with minimal to no health insurance," said Dan Buell, general manager of Experian Healthcare. "As a result, we've developed HIX Screening and Enrollment to support healthcare providers as they assist their patients to obtain adequate medical coverage. By helping patients enroll into the appropriate plans, healthcare organizations will be better positioned to reduce bad debt and create an enhanced patient experience."

Within HIX Screening and Enrollment, healthcare providers can educate patients on their out-of-pocket expenses under their new health plan. With access to secondary tools, such as the subsidy calculator, healthcare providers can enter different income levels, ages and family sizes to estimate the patient's eligibility for subsidies. Additionally, a health benefits comparison chart will enable healthcare providers to go over the patient's health plan benefits from a state's HIX program.

For more information on HIX Screening and Enrollment, or Experian Healthcare's other leading products and services, visit http://www.experian.com/healthcare.

About Experian Healthcare
Experian Healthcare is the leader in providing revenue cycle management products and consultative services powered by data and analytics to health systems, hospitals, medical groups and specialty organizations, helping them to optimize payment processes, reduce bad debt and make more informed business decisions. With clients at more than 900 healthcare organizations nationwide, Experian Healthcare delivers financial insight that allows healthcare organizations to better understand their financial performance, drive operating margin improvement, mitigate risk and protect revenue streams. Its suite of patient access, claims and contract management, and collections products and consultative services gives healthcare organizations greater visibility into critical revenue cycle management processes and meets the industry's growing need for a single integrated source of financial data and analytics that can adapt to current and future payment models. For more information on Experian Healthcare and its suite of products, visit http://www.experian.com/healthcare.

About Experian
Experian^® is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2013, was US$4.7 billion. Experian employs approximately 17,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Contact:
Jordan Takeyama
Experian Public Relations
1 714 830 7561
[email protected]

SOURCE Experian Healthcare