The site delivers quotes and offers a complete online application, approval, enrollment and payment process. For the corporate market, Colorado Springs, Colo.-based startup ChannelPoint hopes to capture the lead online. It sells software to insurance carriers that enables their brokers to access underwriting material over the Web to distribute to corporate clients. When it comes to shopping for health insurance online, the savings go to the carrier, not the customer. States regulate insurance prices and providers pay agents for distribution.
Internet providers charge the insurers significantly less than offline agents.
Consumers get access to rapid comparison services and the convenience and anonymity provided by the Internet. Most offer only informational sites, although a few have added quote delivery and application forms online. Not many have dedicated e-commerce departments. U.S. Healthcare is an exception to the rule. One of the nation's leading providers of corporate health plans, Aetna ventured online more than three years ago with a directory of doctors.