HealthPass Reaches Enrollment Milestone

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - July 9, 2008) - HealthPass, a New York City-based non-profit agency dedicated to improving access to health coverage for small employers and sole proprietors, announced today that enrollment in its health insurance programs has surpassed 20,000 members.

An innovative partnership between the New York Business Group on Health, the City of New York, and the health insurance industry, HealthPass offers small businesses and sole proprietors a wide range of attractive health insurance options that enable eligible employees to choose a plan that best fits their medical needs and budgets. HealthPass serves small businesses and non-profit organizations in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, and Putnam counties. More than 2,500 employers currently offer HealthPass plans to their employees and families.

"We are extremely pleased and proud of the momentum HealthPass has achieved in serving small businesses," said Vincent Ashton, Executive Director of HealthPass. "Twenty thousand covered lives amply demonstrate the value HealthPass provides to employers, their workers and their workers' families. Our wide range of cost-effective, high quality programs enables smaller employers to effectively compete with larger companies in attracting and retaining quality employees."

"As health care costs continue to rise, providing employees with high quality, affordable health insurance options continues to be among smaller employers' biggest concerns," said Laurel Pickering, Executive Director of the New York Business Group on Health. "The steady growth in HealthPass' enrollment figures soundly attests to its proven value as a provider of cost-effective, high quality insurance options."

In addition to offering various medical plans, including Health Savings Accounts, from four leading health insurance carriers, HealthPass also provides dental plans and other voluntary benefits, including term life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, and long-term disability insurance. Additionally, HealthPass offers an independent health advocacy service as a standard feature of its health insurance plan offerings.

About HealthPass

An innovative partnership between the New York Business Group on Health, the City of New York, and the health insurance industry, HealthPass provides small businesses and sole proprietors with an array of Fortune 500-quality healthcare options.

HealthPass enables eligible employees of small businesses to choose a healthcare plan that fits their medical needs and budgets. There are more than 30 different coverage options from four leading carriers -- GHI, Health Net, HIP Health Plan of New York and PerfectHealth -- as well as two dental plans, and a bundled product offered through Guardian. With more than 200,000 providers, HealthPass affords greater network access than any single plan. For more information, please visit www.healthpass.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Ed Emerman Eagle Public Relations 609-275-5162 eemerman@eaglepr.com