HealthAxis.com Signs Agreement With Ceres Group for Web-Connectivity Applications
HealthAxis.com to Provide Ceres with Product Pricing and Agent Quoting Technology for Both Traditional and E-commerce Sales
CLEVELAND & EAST NORRITON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2000-- Ceres Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERG - news), a nationwide health insurance provider, and HealthAxis.com, a subsidiary of HealthAxis Inc. (NASDAQ:HAXS - news), and a provider of web-enabling software solutions for healthcare payers and intermediaries, today announced an agreement whereby HealthAxis.com will license as well as custom-build applications for Ceres Group.
HealthAxis.com's web-enabling technology will provide Ceres sales agents with a powerful Internet-based real-time quoting engine.
The software applications covered by this agreement will empower Ceres' agency sales force with unprecedented ease-of-access to product quoting, selection and proposal generation capabilities. In addition, this new software will be deployed to enhance the capabilities of Ceres' e-commerce venture, QQLink.com.
Peter W. Nauert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ceres Group, said, ``Ceres Group recognizes the opportunity to improve both profitability and customer service through the aggressive application of available Internet technologies. We believe HealthAxis.com's software solutions will provide us with an accurate, consistent and centralized system to support our sales operations.''
Michael Ashker, Chief Executive Officer of HealthAxis.com, said, ``We are excited about working with Ceres Group, as they recognize the need to deploy advanced technology solutions to their ever-growing health insurance business. Mr. Nauert and the entire Ceres management team understand that operating efficiencies equal profitability.''
Dennis Maloney, HealthAxis.com's Chief Operating Officer, added, ``Ceres represents an ideal customer application for HealthAxis.com, as it illustrates the power of leveraging technology in the delivery of health insurance.''
New Product Quoting System
Under the terms of the agreement, HealthAxis.com will provide Ceres with a replacement solution for Ceres' existing, PC-based product quoting system. The Insur-Rate(TM) product will unify Ceres' multiple distribution systems into a single Internet-based, real-time rating engine. The new system is expected to be ready for use by sales agents by February 1, 2001.
The Insur-Rate(TM) implementation will support both individual and group insurance product types. HealthAxis.com's agent quoting solution offers a robust, user-friendly, Internet-supported product that will allow agents to generate quotes, make plan comparisons, and create proposals based on a variety of self-selected attributes.
This solution will significantly improve Ceres' product distribution activities by improving quote accuracy, minimizing cycle time, and reducing administrative costs.
The system will be Internet-accessible for agents and downloadable to use on their PCs and laptops or to use in CD-Rom form. The benefits to Ceres and its agents include:
More consistent premium rate quotes and benefit cost comparisons for clients
Faster, more timely response
More accurate quoting and comparison information
In addition, the software which HealthAxis.com will deliver to Ceres will be constructed in a user-friendly fashion, allowing the Ceres actuarial departments to easily maintain the program and implement any needed rate adjustments with more speed and efficiency.
``We believe HealthAxis.com will provide a tremendous proposal system for our agents and our QQLink.com e-commerce program,'' said Bruce Henry, Chief Marketing Officer of Ceres and Executive Vice President of QQLink.com. ``The HealthAxis.com program will be applicable for all of the Ceres companies and marketing organizations. In particular, we expect the system to facilitate our ability to cross-sell products, including group and individual dental, critical illness coverage and life insurance.''
QQLink.com E-commerce Support
In addition to the downloadable quote system for Ceres' traditional agent sales force, HealthAxis.com will provide an interface for Ceres' QQLink.com e-commerce program.
QQLink.com is Ceres' new B2B-B2C Agent Exchange program which combines the localized consumer service and support of a top-quality sales agent with the convenience and efficiency of direct purchase of insurance and other financial service products over the Internet.
Consumers may apply for and purchase insurance online at a discount either at a participating agent's website, or the QQLink.com master website. Consumers who go direct to the QQLink.com master site will have ready access to a selected or assigned local sales agent to handle questions or provide additional service.
``We expect the HealthAxis.com web-enabled quoting system for QQLink.com will enhance the capabilities of our consumer direct-purchase program,'' Henry said.
HealthAxis.com will also connect the Internet-based quoting system to Ceres' existing COAST (Ceres Online Access SysTem). The COAST program provides Ceres company sales agents with online access to the home office. The tie-in with COAST will provide Internet-based, real-time product quoting for a wide range of Ceres company products that are not available via QQLink.com.
About Ceres Group
Ceres Group provides a broad spectrum of health and life insurance, medical cost management services and specialty products to approximately 600,000 insureds.
The Company actively distributes its products on a national basis through approximately 50,000 independent licensed sales agents and career agents and through various e-commerce platforms, including its own subsidiary, QQLink.com B2B-B2C Agent Exchange. Traditional and e-commerce products are marketed to individuals, small businesses and the senior market.
Through the implementation of its sales and financial business plan and acquisition strategy, the Company focuses on increasing fee-based revenue and reducing medical costs and underwriting risks for its subsidiaries and the blocks of business it acquires. For more information, visit www.ceresgp.com
About HealthAxis.com
HealthAxis.com, a subsidiary of HealthAxis Inc., is a leader in web-enabling both healthcare payers and the health insurance intermediaries through which product is sold and serviced. The Company's proprietary Insur-Web(TM), Insur-Enroll®, and Insur-Admin® product line allows clients to participate in the emerging digital economy.
This fully XML-enabled line of software extends clients' legacy enterprise applications to the World Wide Web, allowing clients to manage Web transactions across the entire spectrum of health insurance operations--plan rating engines, distribution, enrollment, and member services.
Additionally, HealthAxis provides payers with software and services for claims processing, plan administration, and imaging through the following products: Insur-Claims®, Insur-Dental®, Insur-Image®, and Insur-Voice®.
The Company's customers include leading health insurers, Blue Cross/Blue Shield organizations, third-party administrators, and Web-based insurance and benefits marketers. HealthAxis.com is headquartered in suburban Philadelphia, with significant operations in Dallas, as well as offices in eight additional locations both domestic and abroad. The Company employs over 350 IT professionals.
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Ceres Group, HealthAxis.com and QQLink. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition.
In light of the risks and uncertainties inherent in all future projections, the inclusion of forward-looking statements herein should not be regarded as representation by the companies or any other person that the objectives or plans of the companies will be achieved.
Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements, including, among others, failure to successfully implement the business plans for the companies and QQLink, failure of businesses and consumers to adopt the Internet as a vehicle for purchasing insurance, rising healthcare costs, business conditions and competition in the healthcare industry and on the Internet for healthcare and other insurance products, developments in healthcare reform and other regulatory issues.
The foregoing review of important factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Investors and others should refer to the companies' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including their annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, their quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic filings, for a description of the foregoing and other factors.
The companies undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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Contact:
HealthAxis.com
Steven M. Kaplan, 610/275-3800
skaplan@healthaxis.com
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