Higher profits for health insurers

August 6 2020

As doctors and consumers are forced to put most non-emergency procedures on hold, many health insurers foresee strong profits. With fewer people filing for elective procedure claims, the payouts made by insurers have decreased over the pandemic.

However, this situation is not to say that people are not using health care at all. Increased telehealth is easing the backlog of many of the cases. Take Aetna for example, who just reported earnings for the second quarter as a subsidiary of CVS. The company said it sees more people using insurance for health care in the second half of the year. States have emerged from lockdown measures implemented in March, though some are seeing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

In addition, the insurance companies also got a boost from the increased prominence of pharmacies. Patients scared of the hospital started to rely more on the services from pharmacies. Visits and prescriptions are up year-over-year. This usage pattern not only saves patients money and time but also saves the insurers money and time. Profit from pharmacies is starting to pull in more weight compared to provider visits during the pandemic.

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High Growth Health Insurance Startups:

Collective Health simplifies employee healthcare with technology solutions that make healthcare work for everyone. With nearly 250,000 members and over 50 clients—including Pinterest, Red Bull, Restoration Hardware (RH), and Uber—Collective Health is reinventing the healthcare experience for forward-thinking organizations and their people across the U.S. The company has developed a range of products and partnered with innovative companies across care delivery and diagnostics to meet the most pressing healthcare challenges today.

Sidecar Health is changing health insurance. Traditional insurance sits between patients and their doctors, which leads to increased costs, adds unnecessary procedures, and results in surprise bills patients can’t afford. Sidecar Health claims to be different, as members know exactly what their coverage is and pay the provider directly at the time of care using their Sidecar Health payment card, which allows them to take advantage of discounts for paying upfront.

Clover Health is an American healthcare company whose goal is to use data analysis and preventive care to improve health insurance for seniors and give customers who use private versions of Medicare a less expensive option.

Apple Buys Startup to Turn iPhones Into Payment Terminals

Apple Inc. has acquired Mobeewave Inc., a startup with technology that could transform iPhones into mobile payment terminals, according to people familiar with the matter.
[Read more].

Lordstown Motors, valued at $1.6B, merges with ‘blank check’ company

Lordstown Motors Corp., the electric-truck startup working to revive a former General Motors Co. plant in Ohio, plans to go public through a reverse merger deal. [Read more].

Since last week, PrivCo has added:
1,407 Updated Companies | 189 M&A Deals | 185 Funding Activities

Funding & Deal Highlights:

Rigetti Computing, the quantum computing startup that is challenging industry heavyweights like IBM, Microsoft, and D-Wave, announces that it has closed a $79M Series C funding round. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Franklin Templeton, Alumni Ventures Group, DCVC, EDBI, Morpheus Ventures, and Northgate Capital.

Rippling, the startup founded by Parker Conrad to take on the ambitious challenge of building a platform to manage all aspects of employee data, from payroll and benefits to device management, closes $145M in funding — a monster Series B that catapults the company to a valuation of $1.35B.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. announces that it has priced the previously announced cash tender offer for any and all of its outstanding 3.900% Senior Notes due 2023 on the terms of, and subject to the conditions set forth in, the Offer to Purchase, dated July 29, 2020.

Voiceitt, Israel-based award-winning leader in commercial speech recognition technology, successfully raises an additional $10M in a successful Series-A round which closed June 30, 2020.

Yotpo, which provides a suite of tools to help direct-to-consumer and other e-commerce players build better relationships with customers, announces that it has raised $75M in funding, money it will use to continue growing its suite of products, as well as to acquire more customers and build out more integration partnerships.

NeuroOne Medical Technologies Corporation, a medical technology company focused on improving surgical care options and outcomes for patients suffering from neurological disorders, announces the execution of an Exclusive Development and Distribution Agreement with Zimmer Biomet. Under the terms of the agreement, Zimmer Biomet will acquire exclusive global rights to distribute NeuroOne’s Evo™ patented electrode technology.

Evolv Technologies, a Waltham, MA-based provider of an AI-based touchless security screening system, received a strategic investment from Stanley Ventures.

Silverfort, a Boston, MA, and Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of an agentless, proxy-less authentication platform, raises $30M in a Series B funding round.

ANA Therapeutics, aided by its first funding round, is now one of the first companies to have its COVID-19 treatment go into human clinical trials. The new capital infusion of more than $5M includes individuals Sam Altman, Jack Abraham, Paul Buchheit, Matt Rogers, Swati Mylavarapu, and Neal Khosla, as well as firms, On-Air Investments, Refactor Capital, SV Tech Ventures, SV Angel and SOSV.

ASG, a portfolio company of Alpine Investors that buys, builds, and operates vertical SaaS companies, announces that it has acquired extendedReach, a case management software for child and family social service agencies. extended reach will join forces with KaleidaCare, a care management software for foster care and social services organizations that were acquired by ASG in 2018. Together, these two industry-leading organizations can combine their collective talent and deep expertise to create a more diverse suite of products to serve a growing human services market.

Snack food contract manufacturer TruFood acquires Simply Natural Foods (SNF) with the backing of AUA Private Equity Partners. The deal is expected to expand TruFood’s position in the nutrition bar and chocolate molded snacking segments, where SNF is a co-manufacturer for large and high-growth CPG companies as well as private label customers. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Vesta, a fintech pioneer in fraud protection and fully guaranteed payment technologies, has secured a strategic investment from EDBI, a global Asian-based investor.

Patra, a leading provider of technology-enabled solutions for the insurance industry, receives a strategic investment from SkyKnight Capital, a San Francisco based private equity firm, and other investors.

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