By M. Marin
READ THE FULL HIT RESEARCH REPORT
New Board member: extensive experience in public affairs & policy…
Health in Tech (NASDAQ:HIT) is an insurtech operating an AI-powered online marketplace platform to facilitate and improve employers’ ability to obtain health insurance. The company, which provides enterprise SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions for online processing and sales of insurance and benefit plans, announced this week that it has appointed former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Edward McMullen Jr., to its newly formed Advisory Board effective immediately.
Against a backdrop of uncertainty around government policies
We believe his background, with decades of experience in diplomacy, public affairs, and strategic policy, could be particularly helpful as HIT advances its growth strategy against a backdrop of uncertainty around government policies. In fact, according to The Hill, “health insurance is generally considered to be an essential employee benefit in the U.S…However, for those working for smaller businesses, particularly businesses with less than 50 employees, access to healthcare is becoming increasingly precarious…. [and] Healthcare costs are projected to continue rising, with national healthcare spending expected to reach 19.6% of GDP by 2031 compared to 18.3% in 2021.”
HIT’s third-party AI-backed technology is designed to simplify the underwriting process and make it more transparent so that customers can make informed decisions regarding what plans work best for their organizations. Licensed brokers registered on the platform can log in to review offerings and select policy plans, upload the required data to obtain a bindable quote on what the plan will cost and then sell the plan to business organizations.
While the majority of U.S. firms are characterized as small- to medium-business – the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) notes that in 2022, small businesses with 500 or fewer employees made up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses and 99.7% of firms with paid employees – HIT expects to broaden its total addressable market (TAM) as it provides solutions that enhance efficiencies and streamline healthcare insurance processes for employers regardless of their size, including enabling faster quoting. The company also expects to lower total medical expenses for business clients by aggregating critical data and records in one online location, providing easy secure access and leveraging AL/ML to seek medical professionals to improve access to comprehensive healthcare. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ National Health Expenditure Data, U.S. health care spending was about $4.5 trillion in 2022, with the U.S. spending 2X as much on health per capita compared to the average of peer nations, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Harvard Magazine notes that “The high cost of medical care in the U.S. is one of the greatest challenges the country faces and it affects everything from the economy to individual behavior…”
Simplifying and facilitating the process for businesses of all sizes
Given this need, HIT began developing AI-assisted underwriting solutions for mid-sized and larger businesses in 3Q24, consistent with the strategy designed to expand its TAM. HIT began beta development of a large-group third-party AI-powered underwriting platform in November 2024. Thus, while HIT’s primary customers have generally been small and medium businesses that employ from five to 150 employees, the HIT platform is also expected to make it easier for larger organizations to obtain insurance plans that are appropriate for their organizations. HIT is extremely optimistic about its prospects with larger organizations, based on interest it has generated to-date.
In 1Q25, the company delivered solutions to large employers, including one organization that employs more than 1,000 people. HIT believes its proprietary technology platform is highly scalable to support a growing customer base, as more and more businesses seek affordable and risk appropriate healthcare insurance solutions for the employees. The company believes its strengths include its ability to upgrade and innovate its technology and the products it offers backed by its AI/ML-enabled technology capabilities and deliver efficiency and security features to a growing customer base. HIT believes the infrastructure it has established in 2024 and early 2025 position the company for strong growth in 2025 and beyond. The company expects to accelerate its new program development and further expand its broker and text of insurance, TPA (third party administrator) network and its footprint going forward and expects momentum to continue as product development and service innovations advance. Overall, the number of enrolled employees (EE) insured via its platform, considered a critical indicator of growth and market penetration, reached 24,307 in 1Q25, up 16.8% compared to 20,802 in 1Q24.
Health in Tech also can shorten the time required to process insurance underwritings compared to the traditional process that relies more heavily on manual processing, thereby shortening the sales cycle. In most cases, this streamlined approach reduces processing time to approximately two minutes compared to the traditional manual quoting model that involves sending multiple documents to underwriters for manual review and return of documents before generating bindable quotes. Approximately 80% of bindable quotes provided through the Health in Tech platform use AI alone without requiring additional manual review. The company also believes its AI/ML enabled technology completes the process more efficiently and with fewer errors compared to manual processes.
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