The news almost slipped by, but financial reporters noticed yesterday that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and eHealthInsurance.com had forged an agreement that allows the online insurance broker to sell policies on the federal Obamacare marketplaces.
The news surfaced on Yahoo Finance, CNBC and other financial media outlets when a filing late Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed the partnership.
The arrangement gives eHealthInsurance.com access to those Americans seeking health insurance on the 36 marketplaces that are being run by the federal government either for uncooperative states or in partnership with states that didn't want to set up their own exchanges. The health insurance marketplaces commence operations Oct. 1.
The arrangement could prove rather lucrative for the web insurance purveyor, which generally reaps commissions averaging 7 percent on policy sales, analysts noted.
"It's been a while coming, but I'm very pleased," eHealth CEO Gary Lauer told CNBC.com.
"We now hope the 14 states and D.C. that are working hard to develop their own health insurance exchanges will follow the leadership of the federal government," added Lauer.