Consumer Report: Divorcees Pay Significantly More Than Married People, and Singles Pay the Lowest Prices for Health Insurance

Overall, 41% of Individuals pay $100 or Less on Monthly Premiums

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., November 9, 2005 –– Divorced individuals pay 26 percent more for health insurance premiums on a monthly basis than married individuals, who pay 25 percent more than singles ($242, $180, $136 average per month, respectively), according to a new national study of more than 80,000 individual and family health insurance policies sold through www.ehealthinsurance.com in the last year. The report also finds that 41 percent of all individuals pay $100 or less per month for Major Medical health insurance coverage, while 55 percent of families pay $300 or less per month, for an average of three people per family.

“The individual health insurance market offers consumers in all stages of life a wide choice of health insurance options, ” said Gary Lauer, CEO of eHealthInsurance. “These options are often more affordable than many people expect, which explains why 46 percent of consumers who buy health insurance through our site were previously uninsured – they now know that they can afford to get covered.”

Other findings of the report include:

• Men pay less than women for Major Medical insurance – as much as $25 a month less;
• New Yorkers in this sample paid nearly 4 times as much as Michigan residents for their monthly premium on average, at $379 per month vs. $98 per month;
• Customers paid an average of $89 a month to insure one child, which dropped to $61 if a second child was also covered; and
• Short-Term health insurance coverage continued to be more affordable than Major Medical coverage, with families paying an average of $192 per month, and individuals paying an average of $78 per month.

These are among the wide-ranging data gathered by market leader eHealthInsurance. In “The Cost and Benefits of Individual Health Insurance Plans” report, the company selected and analyzed a sample of more than 80,000 Individual and Family Health Insurance policies selected and purchased through www.ehealthinsurance.com on which premiums were paid between January 1, 2004 and April 30, 2005. Topics analyzed include average monthly premiums paid by age, gender, marital status and state, as well as deductible level, office visit co-payment and specific benefits. Similar statistics were gathered for Short-Term Health Insurance Plans purchased through the site.

The full Cost and Benefits of Individual and Family Health Insurance report can be found by visiting \www.eHealthInsurance.com \ About Us \ News \ Reports.

About eHealthInsurance
Since its founding in 1997, eHealthInsurance Services, Inc. (www.ehealthinsurance.com) has become the nation's leading source of health insurance for individuals, families and small businesses. The company sells health insurance in all 50 states, and offers more than 6,500 plans underwritten by more than 140 of the nation's leading health insurance companies. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

eHealthInsurance.com and eHealth are registered trademarks of eHealthInsurance Services, Inc.

Contacts:

Emily Fox                                              Sande Drew
Office:  650/ 210-3140                         Office:  916/ 487-5509
Mobile: 408/ 425-7097                         sandrew@surewest.net
emily.fox@ehealthinsurance.com