'Small Business Plan Finder' Provides New Ways For Employers To Assess Insurance Options

HealthPocket.com unveils tools to help small business owners select health insurance

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- HealthPocket, Inc. today added new tools on HealthPocket.com for small businesses to use in selecting health insurance for their employees. The site enables employers to assess all plans available in their region, select plan features and likely prices, and to find the best way to apply for coverage.

The latest addition to HealthPocket.com follows the company's November launch of the easily sorted data on individual and family plans, Medicare, and Medicaid. The developers of HealthPocket say the small business application is another key to making information on health insurance offerings understandable, transparent, unbiased, and available for free.

"We can provide small businesses and their advisors with the right information to help them make decisions that support their employees and their bottom line," said Bruce Telkamp, co-founder & CEO at HealthPocket, Inc. "Next year will be a crucial one for the insurance marketplace, as small employers review health coverage options in compliance with the Affordable Care Act."

Research shows that providing health insurance to employees can be a real challenge for small businesses, especially with increases in premiums. According to Telkamp, small businesses pay an average of 18 percent more than large firms for the same health insurance policy. Some businesses have used consumer-driven health insurance strategies to reign in costs and promote transparency including health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans, but experts say more needs to be done to ensure employers are navigating the ever-changing health reform environment.

The Affordable Care Act provides tax credits to employers, and in the future employers will have the ability to shop for insurance through state- or federal-based health insurance exchanges. HealthPocket intends to update the site as provisions of the healthcare law are implemented to continue to provide the best information and decision tools possible.

"Providing affordable health insurance to employees is weighing heavily on the minds of all small business owners," said Steve Zaleznick, who leads consumer strategy and development for HealthPocket, Inc. "We're committed to providing employers with a completely unbiased resource that allows them to search all possible plans based on cost as well as quality."

While small employers can use the site to determine how best to structure a health plan for their employees, the site is also available to brokers and advisors who could potentially work with small employers to confirm pricing and benefits.

HealthPocket.com developers say the site is unique and can help employers because:

• It shows all options
  HealthPocket.com is not affiliated with any insurance company. It is the only private, independent website able to filter all plans available by cost of premiums, cost of drugs covered, and quality of the plan—without hiding anything.
• It uses independent, unbiased data
  HealthPocket.com uses objective data from government and private sources that carry no conditions that might restrict the site from sharing certain information. The site provides an objective, transparent measure of cost and quality of every plan available in a given region.
• It simplifies decisions
  HealthPocket.com allows consumers to sort plans by information they deem important. It clearly shows all options in ways that can be tailored by users.
• It doesn't require any personally identifiable information
  Users do not need to register on the site or even provide their name or contact information.
• It's free
  HealthPocket.com is completely free. Site developers say revenues will ultimately come through advertising, but there will never be a charge to consumers to use the site.

Employers can find health plans in their area that best meets their needs at www.HealthPocket.com.

About Health Pocket
HealthPocket.com is a free website that compares and ranks all health plans available to an individual, family, or employer in a given area, all at once. The Company uses only objective data from government, non-profit, and private sources that carry no conditions that might restrict the site from serving as an unbiased resource for consumers. The founders of HealthPocket.com spent decades pioneering online access to health insurance information and knew they could offer something different that can positively change how people buy and use healthcare in the U.S. Learn more at www.HealthPocket.com.

SOURCE HealthPocket.com