Chicago-based GoHealth joins the ranks of also-local companies ConnectedHealth and California’s eHealth that have earned the federal government’s permission to sell subsidized health plans. According to a release, GoHealth intends to start selling in Oct. 1.
Shane Cruz, senior vice president of technology for GoHealth, told the Tribune, “We have 10 years of experience enrolling people in coverage. By [the government’s] agreeing to work with us, they’re saying that getting people enrolled in the right products is an important thing; it’s critical to the Affordable Care Act.”
It’s interesting that Chicago is leading the pack among companies that will be able to offer consumers opportunities to buy insurance. Less so that there will be more opportunities, period (under Obamacare, there will be a penalty for the uninsured starting in 2014), but more so that we’re at the forefront of this movement.
If you want to read more about the Obamacare tax-hit penalty for being uninsured starting next year, check out this piece in U.S. News & World Report.
David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as IFC’s comedy, film, and TV blogger, he's also a comedy-writing instructor for Second City and an adjunct professor in DePaul’s College of Computing and Digital Media. (He also co-runs a blog behind the DePaul class, DIY Game Dev.) He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.
