Wednesday November 18, 11:56 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Fortis Health and HealthAxis.com Announce Exclusive Carrier Agreement
Fortis Health to Offer Short Term Medical Insurance and Medical Insurance for College Students on HealthAxis.com
MILWAUKEE, Wis./NORRISTOWN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 18, 1998-- Fortis Health, a leading provider of individual and small group health insurance, and HealthAxis.com, a pioneer in the Internet distribution of health insurance, today announced an exclusive agreement to offer Fortis Health's Short Term Medical insurance and Student Select, a major medical product for the college student market, throughout the HealthAxis.com network of Web sites.
Customers will be able to purchase Fortis Health's Short Term Medical and Student Select products on HealthAxis.com's Web site, www.healthaxis.com. The Web site will be accessible through HealthAxis.com's exclusive distribution partners, America Online, AOL.COM, Lycos, CNET and Snap!. Fortis Health will pay HealthAxis.com, the online subsidiary of Provident American Corporation (Nasdaq: PAMC - news) per-policy compensation, and, if sales goal are met, additional bonuses. In addition, Fortis Health will provide claim processing and customer service for customers purchasing the Fortis Health products through HealthAxis.com. The Short Term and Student Select products are issued and underwritten by Fortis Insurance Company.
''The Internet has the potential to become a significant commercial sales channel,'' said Dave McDonough, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Fortis Health. ''We want to become the company of choice for those consumers who want to make their short term and student medical insurance purchases online. We are pleased to be working with HealthAxis.com to provide Internet users with the information and tools they need to make smart decisions regarding this type of insurance.''
''Fortis Health is an ideal carrier partner for HealthAxis.com and this agreement is a critical step forward in our strategy to become the premier online provider for the $75 billion individual and small group market,'' said Michael Ashker, President and Chief Executive Officer of HealthAxis.com. ''Of the approximately 43 million uninsured Americans, millions are in-between jobs or in transition. For this group, short term medical insurance is an increasingly desirable solution for health care coverage. Moreover, because of the simplicity of enrollment and the attractive price, short term medical is a perfect product for Internet distribution.''
During any one-year period, approximately 20 million people have a one-to-six-month gap in their medical coverage (according to the U.S. Census Bureau), translating into a $4 billion annual short-term medical market. In addition, there are more than 14 million college students in the United States, representing a multi-billion dollar student medical market.
Through its highly interactive, user-friendly, one-stop health care insurance Web site, HealthAxis.com provides product and health information, instant price quotes, online billing, claim status, and policy or personal information changes, and a customer hotline.
Fortis Health
Fortis Health provides solutions for customers' health care needs by offering a wide array of individual, small group and specialty health insurance products. The specialty medical products include student insurance and a market-leading short term medical plan. Fortis Health includes health insurance products issued and underwritten by Fortis Insurance Company of Milwaukee, WI, Fortis Benefits Insurance Company of Kansas City, MO, and John Alden Life Insurance Company of Miami, FL.
Fortis Health is part of Fortis, Inc., a financial services company that, through its operating companies and affiliates, provides specialty insurance and investment products to businesses, associations, financial service organizations and individuals in the U.S. The company owns or manages approximately $16 billion in assets. Fortis, Inc. is part of the international Fortis group, which operates in the fields of insurance, banking and investments, with assets in excess of $360 billion. Fortis is jointly owned by Fortis AMEV of the Netherlands and Fortis AG of Belgium.
HealthAxis.com
HealthAxis.com, a subsidiary of Provident American Corporation, is a pioneer in the Internet distribution of health insurance to the individual and small group markets. Through its interactive, user-friendly Web site, healthaxis.com, HealthAxis.com provides customers with access to and the ability to purchase a full range of high quality, flexible insurance products and services at very competitive prices.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements made by the Companies which are not historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements as to trends, management's beliefs, expectations and opinions, which are based upon a number of assumptions concerning future conditions that ultimately may prove to be inaccurate. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and may be affected by various factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. For further information which could cause actual results to differ from the Companies' expectations as well as other factors which could affect the Companies' financial statements, please refer to the Companies' reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
HealthAxis.com Fortis Health
Deidre Holt John Radovich
Craig Gitlitz (414) 299-6111
(610) 275-3800
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Quotes and News: Provident American Corp (Nasdaq:PAMC -
|
