GoHealth to Acquire e-TeleQuote to Expand Health Insurance Marketplace

Health insurance marketplace GoHealth has inked an agreement to buy Medicare-focused e-TeleQuote.

The acquisition is expected to close Sept. 30, GoHealth said in a Wednesday (Sept. 4) news release.  The company called the acquisition a “significant milestone in GoHealth’s mission to deliver unparalleled consumer-centric solutions while reinforcing the companies’ shared values of integrity, empathy, and accountability.”

GoHealth said both firms have deep industry expertise, and each has a “complementary set of strengths that will dive mutual growth … especially as the upcoming benefit season expects to bring significant disruption and high demand for a high-quality shopping experience.”

GoHealth CEO Vijay Kotte said in a statement that the acquisition would benefit Medicare consumers.

“GoHealth’s scale, proprietary technology and operational excellence combined with e-TeleQuote’s established talent and high-quality track record will create a mutually accretive relationship poised to drive better outcomes for and meet the evolving needs of our Medicare consumers,” Kotte said.

Earlier this year, GoHealth noted in its earnings call in March that its investment in in its data science platform, Encompass, was paying off. The company said it launched the platform in 2023, and saw it drive 75% of its enrollment as of March.

This was happening, Kotte told analysts at the time, as GoHealth is expecting consumers to increasingly swap health plans.

“We want them to shop. We expected them to shop,” Kotte said. “They are shopping. But when it comes to the appropriate time to make switches, it is either because they’ve got incrementally much better benefits, or in contrast, when they have a lot of change in their benefit structure.”

In other Medicare news, Amazon announced in June that it was expanding its Amazon Pharmacy offerings to Medicare members.

As of June 18, more than 50 million enrollees in the government health insurance program became eligible for Amazon’s RxPass, a Prime member benefit that allows for affordable access to common medications, free delivery each month and the ability to connect with a pharmacist around the clock, PYMNTS reported at the time.

Amazon said Medicare beneficiaries who take at least one medication through RxPass could save around $70 per year, while a beneficiary who takes two or more medications could save more. If every Medicare beneficiary was to use RxPass, Medicare spending would be reduced by close to $2 billion, while customer out-of-pocket spending would decrease as well, Amazon added.