With the election around the corner, Halle and Steve welcome Dan Diamond back on the show to talk about how the election will impact healthcare (and how healthcare impacts voting). Dan is a national health reporter for the Washington Post, focused on accountability, federal agencies, and public health.

We cover:

• Trump's concept of a plan and if he would really repeal the ACA
• Harris abandoning Medicare-for-all
• How reproductive health remains a contentious voting topic
• Medicaid redetermination leading to millions losing coverage
• Bipartisian issues like Medicare Advantage, drug pricing, and mental health coverage

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GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy have transformed best practices for weight loss care and created an opportunity for digital health innovation. In this episode, Steve Kraus sits down with Evan Richardson, founder and CEO of Form Health, to discuss GLP-1s and the virtual medical weight loss care landscape.

We cover:

- How Form Health differentiates itself in the competitive weight care market

- The impact of GLP-1 medications and the challenges of drug shortages

- The role of compounding pharmacies and potential regulatory changes

- The importance of holistic care and patient adherence for sustainable weight loss

- Obesity treatment innovation and the future of healthcare

- Advice for aspiring healthcare entrepreneurs from his experiences at Castlight Health and Included Health

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In this episode, Halle Tecco sits down with John Mackey, founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market. Mackey discusses his new venture, Love.Life, that aims to do for healthcare what Whole Foods did for grocery shopping.

We cover:

• His vision for rethinking the healthcare experience
• What he learned about healthcare running a self-insured employer
• How Whole Foods gamified employee health
• His views on healthcare regulation and personal responsibility
• Why he doesn't believe in market research
• His advice for entrepreneurs taking on venture capital funding

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Your September Digital Health Download is here! This month, Steve and Halle discuss:

• TEFCA
• How employers are getting sued for mismanaging health plans
• Why virtual care is way up in rural America
• The TruePill / LetsGetChecked merger
• J&J taking aim at hospital drug-discount programs
• What happens to compounding startups now that the end of drug shortages is in sight

Tune in for all the digital health tea 🫖!

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In this episode, Dr. Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace, discusses his unconventional journey from vascular surgeon to leading a publicly traded digital health company.

We cover:

• The glass ceiling for physicians, and why people wrongly think physicians can’t run businesses
• His run for Lieutenant Governor of New York, and why more physicians should get involved with politics
• The role of online therapy in making mental healthcare more accessible and affordable
• How Talkspace is leveraging AI to detect suicide risk, support therapists, and enhance patient care
• The challenges and opportunities of running a public company, especially one that went public via SPAC
• His insights on the future of healthcare and the importance of physician leadership in driving change

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In this episode, Christine Lemke, co-founder and CEO of Evidation Health, shares how her personal struggles with chronic pain fueled her mission to transform how we measure and improve health outcomes. She shares the company's evolution and innovative approach to generating real-world evidence (RWE) using a global research platform serving millions of people.

We cover:

- The power of real-world data and understanding health outside the clinic

- Lessons from pivots: Evidation's journey to its current focus

- How they recruit diverse participants, prioritize consent, and even compensate individuals

- Accelerating research and making it more representative of the populations drugs will actually serve

- Where the company's unique data platform goes next, and how it could change healthcare

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In this episode, Halle speaks with Dave Chase, co-founder and CEO of Health Rosetta, who is on a mission to end the 30-year heist of stolen income from the working middle class. He’s working to popularize a new parallel economy: community-owned health plans (COHPs). Dave explains how these plans aim to transform healthcare from a driver of debt and bankruptcy to a driver of well-being and wealth.

We cover:

• The structure and benefits of community-owned health plans (COHPs)
• How these plans can reduce healthcare costs while improving care quality
• The role of primary care, including direct primary care models, in reshaping healthcare delivery
• Challenges with the current employer-based health insurance system
• Recent legal developments pushing for change in employer-sponsored health plans

Dave shares insights on how community-owned health plans can address issues like misaligned incentives, inefficient spending, and poor health outcomes. He also discusses the potential for these models to redirect healthcare savings into community investments, ultimately improving social determinants of health.

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In this episode, we answer listener questions about the current state of the market and share insights for healthcare founders raising VC funding. We also announce the merging of this show with Closing Time Podcast, and welcome our new co-host Michael Esquivel! Michael is an angel investor, a startup lawyer at Fenwick, and a Lecturer at Stanford Law School - we're excited to have him join the show!

We cover:

• The slow recovery of the IPO market and the prevalence of private M&A deals
• Realistic revenue targets and deal sizes for Series A rounds in the current market
• The importance of having a platform play rather than a point solution
• Negotiation strategies for founders to protect their interests while attracting investors
• Balancing time between recruiting, fundraising, and running the business as a founder

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We had lots to cover in this month's Digital Health Download, from a $99 AI companion to if we think PBMs will ever be dismantled.

We discuss:

- A WSJ report on Medicare Advantage insurers pocketing billions for diseases that were never treated or falsely coded

- The FTC's interim report on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and their impact on drug accessibility and affordability

- Vermont's successful accountable care organization (ACO) program, which led to significant savings and improved care

- The launch of "Friend," an AI-powered wearable device designed to combat loneliness and isolation

- Post-Theranos progress made by companies working on less painful blood tests

- A hospital's new venture into the entertainment industry

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In this episode, Steve Kraus interviews Andy Slavitt, General Partner at Town Hall Ventures and former CMS and UnitedHealth Group executive. We look back on his career-long mission to fix American healthcare's biggest challenges, encompassing roles in insurance, government, healthcare startups, and venture capital.

We cover:

- The high-stakes mission to rescue Healthcare.gov and implement the Affordable Care Act

- His unexpected transition from entrepreneur to executive at UnitedHealth Group

- His tenure as the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

- The promise and hurdles of value-based care

- Why healthcare is slow to adopt technological innovations

- Navigating healthcare policy across changing political landscapes

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