These Female Founders Have A Tech Solution To Americans’ Health Insurance Woes

Candice Helfand-Rogers , Contributor.  January 23, 2018. Forbes. 

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Entrepreneur Christine Carrillo found inspiration for her multi-million-dollar venture over dinner.

It all began at a 2014 dinner party, when a friend complained mid-meal to Carrillo and her partner in a healthcare consultancy, Helen Lee, that his health insurance plan did not cover his daughter’s medication. The women offered to take a look at his policy.

But what they thought would be a quick favor soon turned into a labor of love. Wading through the complexities of his plan, Carrillo found herself thinking, “Holy cow, this guy is being completely taken advantage of.” His plan was missing key elements like coverage for doctor visits and prescriptions. Less than 2 weeks later, the pair had found a much better plan for their friend — one that saved him $9,000 in one year, she says.

That “someone” soon became Carrillo and Lee, and that “something” was Joany, a tech company that would strive to make it easier for Americans to understand and buy health insurance plans. Using the Joany site, customers can view all the plans available to them — whether offered through government-run health insurance exchanges or provided by private companies — and use a range of services designed to make choosing and using their policies easier.

Los Angeles-based Joany is targeting a huge market. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 28.2 million people in the United States are uninsured, most of whom are low-income. There is also plenty of confusion about how health insurance works in general, with many Americans failing to understand how their plans work or whether they have the best one for their needs.

Carrillo and Lee, along with their staff of 79 full- and part-time employees, aim to clear things up with their online service, which is free for consumers. And the company has been growing in leaps and bounds since launching in 2014.

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