Stride partners with 100+ flexible work platforms and employers in support of "Gig Workers' Week of Action" to boost health insurance enrollment before Dec. 15th deadline

The coalition is focusing on raising awareness of reduced prices and supporting workers during the enrollment process

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Dec 06, 2021, 20:33 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Stride Health, the leader in portable benefits for independent workers, announced its support of the "Gig Workers' Week of Action" initiative by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to help raise awareness among independent workers about the increased affordability of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The company has been focused on helping gig economy workers find and enroll in affordable health insurance and benefits since launching in 2014. Stride partners with Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex, Lyft, Grubhub, Gopuff, Fiverr and over 100 flexible work platforms and traditional employers to help their independent and part-time workers find and enroll in quality, affordable benefits.

"Gig economy workers are 3 times more likely than the average American to lack health insurance, largely because they don't think they can afford it," said Noah Lang, CEO and Co-Founder of Stride. "This is despite the fact that 4 out of 5 Americans can now find ACA health insurance plans for less than $10 per month thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act. The problem is, 80% of independent workers are unaware of those low costs and, as a result, never even explore their options. By joining forces with such a large and engaged ecosystem of partners, we're aiming to fix that problem."

As part of CMS' "Gig Workers' Week of Action," Stride is making it easier for gig workers to find and enroll in ACA coverage through its unique Enhanced Direct Enrollment integration partnership with Healthcare.gov, which makes it easy for individuals to compare plans, get personalized plan recommendations and complete their enrollment with tax credits—right from their mobile devices in a process that takes about 10 minutes or less.

The Gig Workers' Week of Action aims to help independent contractors enroll in and understand their opportunities to get access to affordable coverage, including new policies that can help reduce the financial burden of healthcare.The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) increased the tax credits available to individuals and created a unique Special Enrollment Period that allows most Americans to enroll in coverage immediately. With these new tax credits, 4 out of 5 individuals can get a plan for less than $10 a month and the median deductible has dropped 90% since April 1st, to $50.

With Stride's partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), independent contractors can use Stride's website just as they would Healthcare.gov to qualify for these new ARPA tax credits and complete their enrollment entirely within Stride's experience. This includes the 1 in 4 current enrollees who are able to "upgrade" to a higher plan category that offers better out-of-pocket costs at the same or lower premium.

Gig workers and any other individuals who'd like to learn more about their enrollment options can visit www.stridehealth.com to compare plans and enroll in less than 10 minutes. Companies looking to offer Portable Benefits to their workers can visit www.stridebenefits.com/partner to learn more about partnering with Stride.

About Stride Health, Inc.

Stride provides the world's first portable benefits platform designed specifically for independent workers, helping them save time and money on insurance and taxes. Since launching in 2014, Stride has helped over 2.7 million workers save over $2.9 billion. Stride partners with over 100 leading work platforms and employers of non-benefited workers including Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon, Lyft, Gopuff, Fiverr, GrubHub, Etsy, Patreon, Rover, TaskRabbit, and Keller Williams so they can provide their workers with access to a full marketplace of health and wealth benefits and perks. In 2021, the company launched its Stride for Health Plans platform to enable simple ACA enrollment for health insurance carriers. Stride is backed by Mastercard, Allstate, Venrock, New Enterprise Associates, Fidelity's F-Prime Capital Partners, King River Capital and Moderne Ventures. For more information, visit https://www.stridebenefits.com.

SOURCE Stride Health