Applied Underwriters announces insurtech platform for Medicare needs

Applied Underwriters announces insurtech platform for Medicare needs | Insurance Business America

Insurance News

Applied Underwriters announces insurtech platform for Medicare needs

App will review and recommend Medicare plans to fit consumers’ needs

Insurance News

By
Ryan Smith

Applied Underwriters has announced that it is launching EOS, a managing general agent and technology platform for independent agents and brokers.

EOS allows agents and brokers to offer the best available healthcare arrangement for their clients’ Medicare needs, Applied said.

The Medicare buying decision is mandatory and occurs annually for most people in the US age 65 and older, Applied said. The EOS platform will allow insurance producers to provide a white-labeled web app to their clients that will help evaluate Medicare needs, and provide live quotes and instant enrollments in plan alternatives.

“Medicare decisions are complicated and daunting,” said Jamie Sahara, president of Applied Underwriters. “The marketplace in every state for Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Supplement insurance is large. There are a wide range of choices available to consumers, but the plan alternatives can vary significantly in the ultimate economics for the buyer based on unique medical needs, benefit preferences and expected medical usage.

“EOS has the capability to review every credible plan offered in the marketplace, match it to the buyer’s circumstances, and then recommend the optimal, most cost-effective Medicare plans, presenting an explanation and the economics associated with each alternative.”

Sahara said that Applied Underwriters saw an opportunity in the private Medicare retail space as its competitors are “mostly phone-based marketers supported by limited-function web apps targeting consumers to gather leads.”

“These organizations typically focus on some specific carrier appointment rather than providing a broad-based, unbiased marketing analysis given the actual needs and ultimate costs for an individual,” he said.

Applied chairman Steve Menzies said that during the fall of 2022, the company purchased the intellectual property rights for technology that optimizes Medicare buying decisions from a failed insurtech.

“It was a great idea that didn’t make it to market,” Menzies said. “So many insurtechs struggle to bring out good ideas after expending large amounts of investment capital only to discover that successfully running an insurance underwriting and distribution operation is in actuality a difficult and complicated matter.”

Menzies said Applied was now putting the finishing touches on the system.

“We are currently completing the system design and build-out for this product, which we have branded EOS, with Applied’s own development environment, adding significant enhancements to its algorithms, front-end design and cybersecurity,” he said.

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