The most obvious benefit to the consumer, by submitting Texas health insurance applications online, is speed. The online health insurance application can be processed and an underwriting decision reached in far less time than the traditional paper application. Previously, the traditional paper application was completed and mailed to the broker for review and authorization. The broker then forwarded the application by mail to the carrier. Once the carrier received the application the information had to be manually input into a database for access by the underwriting department. The total time from when the application was mailed by the client and when the information was in front of an underwriter was between 7 and 10 business days. The online application has reduced the amount of time to less than 24 hours, because the information is input by the applicant directly into the underwriting database and is available by the next business day to begin the review process.

Providing the information in a predetermined consistent format is another significant advantage of the online application process as compared to the traditional paper application. The online application is designed to provide information in a format that enables a more time efficient review by underwriting personnel. The paper application leaves the submission of the health history completely up to the applicant, which can result in gaps in the applicant’s medical background or inconsistent information. Any gap in health history or incomplete information will result in a delay of the review in order to complete missing information.

The accuracy of the application is a byproduct of the predetermined online format. Because health insurance carriers have spent a great deal of resources in developing online applications, the application process evolves based on the applicant’s responses to health history questions. Answers to certain health history questions will trigger “drill down” questions which will allow the applicant to provide additional information regarding treatment and prescription usage. This type of information was often overlooked with traditional paper applications. The additional information gives a much more detailed picture of the health history, which results in a more accurate and timely underwriting decision.

Online applications provide the Texas health insurance consumer with additional payment options. Paper applications were limited to checks, bank draft or direct billing options due to the security concerns with mailing credit card authorizations. Online applications with much higher security can now offer credit card options to submit the initial premium payment.

Of all of the benefits of the online application, security is the benefit most frequently overlooked. Traditional applications, with premium payments attached, were mailed to the broker and then the carrier. The individual’s personal information such as Social Security number, health history and banking information were subject to the vagaries of the postal system. The online applications provide a much safer transaction and a higher level of security.

Today’s online health insurance applications are transmitted using 128-bit encryption, which is the standard used on the Internet. It is important to understand what is meant by 128-bit encryption. The 128-bit encryption results in two secret keys to the 128th power or two multiplied by two 128 times over. The number of key combinations using 128-bit encryption equals 339 decillion. A decillion is a number with 33 zeroes behind it.

A 40-bit encryption is much less secure than a 128-bit encryption, which was illustrated by a French researcher who used a network of fast workstations to crack an encrypted message. The time required to crack the 40-bit encryption was a week, which would be impractical given that a credit card transaction takes only a few seconds to transmit over the Internet. However, to illustrate the security of a 128-bit encryption, if we used a 56-bit encryption, which is the next level of encryption above a 40-bit, it would take 72 million weeks or 1.4 million years using the same method employed by the French researcher. The security of the transmission of sensitive health information over the Internet far exceeds the traditional paper application and postal system.

As the Texas health insurance consumer expects a higher level of responsiveness from all aspects of the financial services industry, online health insurance applications will produce underwriting decisions in hours or days where previously the decision would have taken weeks.

Author Bio: Texas Jarvis is a licensed Texas health insurance broker with extensive knowledge of the Individual and Small Group health insurance markets in Texas. Texas health insurance quote

Category: Finances
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