In 2012, GoHealth became a government-approved exchange after a deal was signed into place by the Obama administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).[5] This would allow GoHealth to enroll people in the same plans and offer the same tax-subsidies found on HealthCare.gov.[5] CMS signed the deal with a few private health insurance marketplaces including GoHealth[7] in an effort to provide affordable premiums from the increase in enrollment.[5]
In 2013, GoHealth acted as the first of the private health insurance marketplaces to enroll Americans in subsidy-eligible ObamaCare plans, following the technical challenges from HealthCare.gov's launch.[5] Soon after a fix for broker functionality was implemented on HealthCare.gov, the company utilized their call centers to help Americans enroll in both on-exchange and off-exchange plans while on the phone.[5] While customers had the ability to start the enrollment process using GoHealth's website, speaking with a representative allowed for the company to confirm a person's eligibility for subsidies and complete enrollment.[5][8] The regulatory approval to enroll people in these plans only applied to residents from the 36 states that used the federal insurance exchange in lieu of a state exchange.[9]
In 2016, after growth from the Affordable Care Act slowed and following the departure of the former President Barack Obama from office, GoHealth turned its focus to Medicare.[3]
GoHealth is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois,[10] with locations in Charlotte, North Carolina,[11] Lindon, Utah,[12] and Bratislava, Slovakia.[13]
History
GoHealth, originally named Norvax, Inc., was founded in 2001[14] by Clint Jones and Brandon Cruz. The business initially started by creating websites and lead management software for insurance brokers.[15]
In 2008, then-company Norvax offered online comparison health insurance shopping.[16]
In 2009, Norvax, Inc. was renamed to GoHealth.[17]
In 2012, GoHealth received a $50 million investment from Norwest Equity Partners.[15][14]
In 2013, GoHealth was appointed by the federal government to enroll eligible residents from 36 states in subsidized health exchange-based plans, made available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.[9][18]
In 2013, GoHealth purchased 90,000 sq. ft. in Merchandise Mart, expanding its Chicago locations to four.[19]
In 2015, ADP partnered with the company to help employees, who did not have employer health insurance coverage, enroll in subsidized health plans.[20]
In 2016, GoHealth opened a location in Charlotte, North Carolina.[11]
In 2018, GoHealth opened a location in Lindon, Utah.[12]
In 2019, Centerbridge Partners made a majority stake investment in GoHealth, with a valuation of approximately $1.5B (considered a unicorn status).[21][22][23] The purchase became the largest of any Chicago-based technology company within the previous five years, and topped IBM's purchase of $1.3 billion for Cleversafe and SAP's purchase of $974 million for Fieldglass.[3] Norwest Equity Partners retained a stake in GoHealth,[24] while co-founders, Jones and Cruz, continued to hold substantial equity stake.[6]
GoHealth announced a plan to file for IPO in June 2020.[25][26]
On June 6, 2022, GoHealth announced its appointing of Vijay Kotte as CEO and Jason Schulz as CFO effective immediately. Co-founder and current chief executive officer, Clint Jones, would then become the Executive Chairman of the Board.
Acquisitions
In 2015, GoHealth acquired software development company Creatix, based in Bratislava, Slovakia.[13]
