Health startup Bind aims to deliver on-demand health insurance

Health insurance has traditionally been comprehensive and out of reach for many. However, health start up Bind is set to revolutionise the industry through the launch of its ‘on-demand,’ customised health insurance plan.

Whilst not an insurance company, Bind structures health plans in a way where consumers can ‘buy’ and ‘access’ services on-demand. It has raised $70mn to advance its expansion, support employers and further provide its services to citizens across the US.

UnitedHealthcare and Ascension Ventures are two major healthcare investors backing the company’s efforts to personalise health insurance and make it accessible to all, purchasing coverage for the services which they need, whenever they so need it.

“When we started this, we started to really look at how consumers really use the healthcare system, and we use it in an ‘on demand’ way,” Chief Executive Officer, Tony Miller informed CNBC

“Everyone starts with a core plan, which covers your primary care, your preventive care and all those things which we worry about. All trauma events are covered. Pregnancy, cancer, and chronic conditions, all these kinds of events are covered.”

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As all consumers are granted a core plan, built with basic co-pays and no deductibles for essential medical coverage, the company enables customers to make significant savings across the board, effectively removing deductibles for primary care and specialist visits.

“We’ve taken the dollars that the group has spent, and we’re helping that subsidise which providers that you want to use,” says Miller.

“We don’t think there should be deductibles for cancer, for example. We think cancer should be covered in a core plan.”

If a customer needs to have a knee replacement or any invasive surgery, the company is able to facilitate this through this process, where costly operations can be paid for through deductions in payroll until it is fully paid, and customers can gain greater control as to which provider they wish to use.

“We create that difference in subsidisation across clinical performance,” adds Miller.

“What happens is that consumers actually buy the more cost-effective provider. They save money but more importantly, the entire pool saves money. By doing that, the entire core product becomes more affordable for all.”