Health IT, Startups

Stride Health wants to be personalized insurance adviser to the self-employed

The company's commercial launch was in March this year starting with California. As of the start of November, it had a presence in all 50 states.

One of the byproducts of the changing health insurance landscape has been the surge in companies providing employers, individuals and payers’ members guidance on health plan options that are right for them. They’ve taken different approaches from avatars to improving health literacy.

Stride Health sees itself as providing more customized information to independent contractors and the companies that work with them, such as Uber and Taskrabbit, by functioning as a broker, so it charges insurance carriers a fee. In a phone interview with CEO Noah Lang, he said the company seeks to educate consumers about insurance in the context of people’s lives.

“We don’t sell to everyone and anyone shopping for health insurance. We focus on self-employed, independent contractors, and part timers. The 1099 economy. The real big challenge here is delivering health coverage decisions for the average American family.”

Prior to Stride Health, Lang worked in business development at Reputation.com, a company that helps individuals and businesses protect their privacy and identity. Lang said he left because of his passion for health and wellness.

One of the most sought after groups for insurance is the Millennials, but the 20s age group this covers tend to view health insurance as a low priority in the context of their other costs. Even the White House got the likes of Oscar and ZocDoc to do public service announcements with the aim of getting Millennials to take an interest in the insurance marketplace. For Lang to brag that it attracts a high millennial population is an impressive claim.

With an eye to this group and others new to insurance, it provides a guide to school newbies on things like how to file an appeal for out-of-network care,
definitions of key health insurance vocabulary, an explanation of the government’s “metal tier” health plan labels, and how different doctor networks function, according to its website.

The company’s commercial launch was in March this year starting with California. As of the start of November, it had a presence in all 50 states. Among Stride Health’s investors are Venrock, New Enterprise Associates, Mayo Clinic, Fidelity Biosciences, and Rock Health.

It makes insurance plan recommendations based on the user’s salary and doctors they would prefer to stay in their network and provides a way to compare them with other plans. It estimates the amount a user will spend each year in addition to their monthly premium payments. It includes payments for procedures, tests, and visits to the doctor. It generates that amount from health spending data for individuals fitting the user’s age and sex.

A cursory search of my zip code, without specifying a physician I wanted to keep, generated a comparison between six plans. Unfortunately, they were limited to one insurer. Another city in another state generated different options — fewer options, but different insurers. The company also says that it can help users price prescription drugs from a network of pharmacies.

Lang claims that last year, 65 percent of Americans bought plans with more benefits than they needed. It’s an interesting comment because that’s long been a source of debate, especially given that when Obamacare insurance plans took effect, loads of people found themselves without an insurance plan. Insurers explained that the Affordable Care Act meant those plans were no longer permissible because they did not offer enough protection. It caused plenty of rancor when that happened and continues to be a sore spot in how ACA was presented.

Photo: Flickr

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