The New Way to Pay for Healthcare: Inspired's Investment in Paytient

The single biggest shift in the US healthcare system over the last two decades has been the transition of consumers from patients to payers. We’re seeing this play out with the rise of high-deductible healthcare plans (HDHPs), which require consumers to foot the bill for most of their non-catastrophic healthcare expenses. 29% of Americans are now enrolled in an HDHP, up from 4% in 2006, and the average deductible for an HDHP is $2,349, which means that a member needs to cover $2,349 of medical expenses out-of-pocket before their insurance kicks in (and that is on top of their premium!).?

For most Americans – 80M+ of whom have a health insurance deductible that exceeds their savings on hand – this situation presents a choice between financial insecurity and forgoing care altogether. In 2021, 40% of Americans delayed or missed care because of their inability to pay.

Providers are suffering too. The average provider waits 60 days to get paid and only collects 40 cents on the dollar.?

When we met Brian Whorley , the Founder and CEO of Paytient , in September of 2020, he painted a vision of the world where consumers didn’t have to make those painful choices and providers could get paid for the work they performed. In its simplest form, Paytient enables consumers to pay for healthcare, dental, vision or vet bills over time, with automatic, interest-free payments deducted from the? employer’s payroll system. So for example, an unexpected $400 dental emergency could be paid out in eight installments of $50 that are automatically deducted out of an employee’s future paycheck over the course of several months.

It’s a clear win-win-win for employees, employers and providers: employees are able to access care earlier and on their own terms, employers can deliver a better experience that helps contain costs, and providers get paid upfront.??

Paytient is also gaining traction with payers and will be working with three of the five largest payers in the US in 2023. Payers view Paytient as a way to incentivize members to access early treatment and primary care, thus reducing the odds of high cost claims and the expense of treating chronic conditions.?

What’s most exciting to us is the eventual network effects that Paytient will create over time. As healthcare price transparency laws go into effect, Paytient will build the platform for consumers to find and pay for quality healthcare at lower costs.?

Inspired Capital led Paytient’s Seed and Series A rounds in September 2020 and July 2021, respectively. When Inspired led Paytient’s seed round in 2020, they covered ~3,000 lives. Now, Paytient covers nearly 700,000 lives and Paytient members have used their card to pay for care over 400,000 times across the country.?

We are thrilled to announce that Paytient has completed a Series B round led by Mercato Partners Traverse Fund. Paytient is expanding its team and looking for people who believe in its mission of helping Americans better afford and access healthcare - learn more here!