It took a while to plough through 4 hours of Acquired podcast. I have been a fan of their work…
Morning Headlines 4/8/21
Virtual-first primary care company Firefly Health raises $40 million in a Series B round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Privia Health Announces Filing of Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering
Practice management company Privia Health files paperwork with the SEC for an IPO.
Investment firm KKR has acquired a majority interest in Therapy Brands, parent company of 19 behavioral health IT businesses.
Agilon health Files Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering
Senior-focused primary care company Agilon Health hopes to raise nearly $1 billion in its forthcoming IPO.
I don’t understand why these health insurance + digital whatever always go for the low cost market. In the firefly health article, they say their cost is so much lower(doubtful). But I imagine the people who would want a digital insurance care plan are not the same people who are looking for bargain basement health insurance.
I think it’s more about scale than “bargain basement”. They are starting with small to mid-level employers (50-2,500 employees) as the build out their network of specialists (I think). Smart concept IMHO, but needs a bit of work to really offer savings to large employers. The real savings will be convincing Cardiology, orthopedics, and oncology to take discount reimbursement for FireFly’s quicker payment. And if that works, a big payer will then offer quicker payments too and the game is on.
How are they going to copy Kaiser Permanente’s model without having employed physicians (both primary care and specialists)?