In continual research of understanding how the money passes through the medical industry I come upon the article in the Becker Hospital Review regarding Chicago-based GoHealth filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.

According to search.brave.com “GoHealth, Inc. is a publicly traded health insurance marketplace (NASDAQ: GOCO) headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, that helps consumers find and enroll in health insurance plans.  Founded in 2001, the company primarily focuses on Medicare products, including Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, and Prescription Drug plans, while also offering individual and family health insurance.

The company utilizes proprietary machine-learning algorithms and licensed insurance agents to match consumers with suitable coverage options.  GoHealth operates through an online platform and independent agencies, emphasizing unbiased guidance and personalized enrollment assistance for millions of Americans.”

Last year at this time I would have no clue what this meant.  However with a recent career direction and the direction of the federal government I received a first hand experience with a consultant helping me find and purchase the various medicare coverages.  There were some interesting things I learned.

Understanding the various product offerings and making good decisions on ones own is handled best by a minority of the eligible population.  People are inundated with advertisements with a short period for selection. Also, the selection of the wrong product can not only have bad results for a year or much longer.  Some product offerings are not so clean when it comes to making a switch in the next enrollment period. Product rules are created by a group effort between government bureaucrats, money interests, and maybe someone in the medical industry.

What caught my attention is how consultants got paid for their work and how they could not be paid for their work. Stepping back for a moment I want to say that if I have a need for a lawyer I pay them a fee. If I need an accountant I pay their fee.  If I need a photographer I pay their fee. If I buy my home or car insurance my insurance agent gets a commission on my payment.  The same with my life insurance or business insurance, my agent gets a commission.

What I did find out is on some of the policy choices I could make would pay my consultant a commission.  I have no problem with that.  There were polices that let the consultant purchase their product for me but offered no commission to my consultant.  That seems weird. There were other products available but the consultant could not assist in the purchase. That was bizarre.

What bothered me most is that I could not pay my consultant a fee for helping me with the policy.  I wondered how they make money.  My consultant liked what she was doing and worked hard to create her business.

With this in mind, is there any wonder what contributed to a company like GoHealth having to do Chapter 11.