Simplee Unleashes Private Beta

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The launch of the private beta version of Simplee, a free web-based personal health care management service that allows consumers to easily understand and manage their health care expenses, was announced late last week. Created by a cadre of industry veterans with deep online consumer content and commerce expertise including former executives from Shopping.com (eBay) and EMC, Simplee is backed by a $1.5 million seed round investment fund led by notable angel investors.

The free service securely and automatically links to health insurance information and transforms it into a clean, easy-to-read dashboard for tracking and controlling spending, reducing paperwork, expanding health care options and saving money.

"We set out to develop a simple, intuitive service that cuts through the confusion and clutter of today's health care system," said Tomer Shoval, CEO and co-founder at Simplee. "Gone are the days of the headaches and exhaustion of digging through bewildering bills and sorting out co-pays, deductibles and premiums. All of that has changed with Simplee -- now it's easy to take control of your health care expenses and get the most out of your insurance benefits -- and the launch of Simplee's beta is really just the beginning of things to come."

In its bid to provide a personalized one-stop shop for health care management, the company also unveiled plans for a first-of-its-kind comparison shopping and recommendation engine meant to help consumers evaluate medical providers and services based on quality and price, and a unique recommendation tool for choosing the best insurance plan according to previous consumption patterns. These elements, in addition to a powerful slate of yet to be announced features and services, will be introduced later this year.

Each day, consumers are being asked to spend more and more money out of their own pockets to cover health care expenses. According to the 2010 Milliman Medical Index, health care costs are up more than 50 percent in the last five years, with the average U.S. family spending more than $3,000 per year over and above their annual insurance premiums. In today's landscape, the true cost of health care is hidden behind baffling price variations, coverage restrictions, complex billing calculations and archaic billing codes.

Management of health care expenses, a chaotic flurry of medical bills, deductibles and unanticipated, costly expenses is made easy by Simplee with a set of powerful, personalized tools that help consumers make sense of their insurance plans and organize the complexity surrounding health care expenses and benefits.

Shoval continued, "Simplee is dedicated to a simple idea -- empowering consumers so that they can cut through the confusion and clutter of today's health care system and make better decisions for themselves and their families. Simplee centralizes all health care resources in a safe environment and provides insights that help users achieve the best standard of care at a lower cost."

Key Benefits & Features

By removing the mystery around costs and payment details, Simplee helps users better understand how medical costs are calculated and how insurance benefits work, thus exposing the real cost of health care and the hidden benefits available under each plan.

• Analyze personal spending. Simplee's personalized dashboard utilizes users' linked health insurance information to present details on medical visits, deductible status and total family spending over time. The service also provides users with customizable spending analysis tools which present a breakdown of expenses according to type of service, subscriber and medical provider.
• Manage expenses & bills. Simplee allows users to track bills and claims in real-time so they know what's been paid or reimbursed. It also notifies users when bills are due so they know how much to pay and when, and identifies duplicate bills with options for resolution of billing disputes so users do not overpay.
• Reveal hidden benefits. With alerts and reminders that reveal hidden insurance benefits like free preventative services, Simplee helps users take full advantage of their health care plan.

Simplee is HIPAA-compliant and utilizes best-in-class security infrastructure from VeriSign, McAfee and TRUSTe to ensure that all user information is safe and secure. Users' private health care records cannot by altered or compromised in any way through the use of the service. Support is provided for Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, Delta Dental, United Healthcare, Vision Service Plan (VSP), WellPoint (Empire BCBS) and others, with plans to support approximately 80 percent of the entire U.S. market by the end of the year.

Private Beta Access

To apply for participation in the Simplee private beta program, which is available now by invitation only, users must sign-up at http://www.simplee.com. Participants will receive log-in instructions via email when they are selected, and will have full access to the private beta site throughout the evaluation period.

Collateral

For the Simplee logo and assorted screenshots please visit http://photobucket.com/simpleehealth.

For a 2:11 video that provides a basic overview of the Simplee service please visit http://youtu.be/H5uB82OVrCg.

About Simplee

Simplee is a privately held company dedicated to empowering consumers to take control of their health care. The free, web-based consumer service helps users better understand and manage their health care expenses, identify ways to save money and find better care at lower costs through an easy-to-use, simple dashboard with a set of powerful customization tools. Led by former executives from Shopping.com (eBay) and EMC, Simplee was created and developed by a team of industry veterans with deep online consumer content and commerce expertise with funding from notable angel investors. The company is located in Palo Alto, California, and maintains a development center in Israel. For more information go to http://www.simplee.com.

Simplee is a trademark or registered trademark of Simplificare Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective holders.

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Heather Gore
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SOURCE Simplee