Israeli AI Helps US Workers Navigate Maze Of Private Healthcare

By Alexandra Bordeiasu, NoCamels May 08, 2024 4 minutes

(Pexels)

In the US, there is no universal healthcare to automatically provide everyone with access to medical treatment, leaving individuals to find their own often costly private coverage.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost half of Americans rely on their workplace for healthcare coverage. And in a complex healthcare landscape, finding the right insurance policy from the scores of providers can be daunting for both employees and employers alike.

Now, an Israeli startup is seeking to simplify the process of acquiring and managing coverage, using a proprietary AI-driven platform.

Healthee’s platform analyzes individual health plans and converts the maze of data into operative insights, providing personalized experiences, cost transparency and efficient solutions.

The Healthee app allows users to choose their healthcare plan according to their individual needs (Courtesy of Healthee)

One of the key features of the platform is its plan selection tool, which assists users in choosing the right health insurance coverage based on their medical needs and budget.

This not only helps employees to make informed decisions about their healthcare, but also helps employers optimize expenditure by offering tailored benefits packages.

“Zoe [the AI system] goes to your personal health plan that was pre-uploaded to the platform by the employer,” Healthee VP Marketing Omer Maman tells NoCamels.

“Then our system turns the medical plan from hundreds of pages of unstructured data into a structured form, where the platform can give you direct answers in a one-on-one conversational experience.”

Maman says that unlike other healthcare management platforms, Healthee works with its users through the entire process – starting from enrollment in the healthcare provider, which in the US has to be completed every single year.

“That sits in the center of the user experience, I would say,” he explains.

Healthee’s platform goes beyond plan selection with a wider range of services, including a breakdown of pricing, the choice of different providers and also customer support.

He cites the example of having an MRI, for which he says the cost can vary widely from $200 to an astronomical $5,000 for the same procedure.

“We give our users the customer experience,” he explains. “They know they can go two blocks away and find an MRI for 50% of the price.”

Healthee provides users with round-the-clock access to telehealth services (Pexels)

The platform also connects the user with round-the-clock telehealth services that are free of charge, while AI assistant Zoe provides information such as the pricing, addresses of local clinics and available appointment times.

“We always ensure cost transparency, unusual in the US, where you consume health, and then get the invoice 30 days later, ” says Maman.

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“Our customers know in advance how much their service is going to cost and they can already locate the closest clinic that serves them at the best prices on the market.”

An engineer turned product manager and a driving force behind Healthee, Maman first experienced the complexities of navigating the US healthcare system with his own family when they moved to the country two years ago.

“As I’ve been in this industry for so many years, I was quite sure no one can surprise me,” he recalls.

“But right after I moved here, I had to book an appointment for one of my kids to see their pediatrician and realized that we know nothing about the healthcare system in the States. It’s so complicated, that those are the kind of things that you do not know you do not know until you need them.”

The Healthee team, with Omer Maman seated 2nd right (Courtesy of Healthee)

Created in 2021, Healthee has already raised $58 million in just two rounds of fundraising, which Maman says is testament to the company’s innovation and potential.

In fact, he says, one of Healthee’s most dedicated partners is TriNet, a major US employee organization company, which provides payroll and healthcare provisions for small and medium businesses.

The relationship started as commercial one, Maman says. But it was not long before TriNet, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, decided to become not just a customer but also an investor.

“Their CEO has a chair on our board,” Maman says. “So I believe this is a prime example of a vote of trust.”

TriNet was among the investors in the company’s Series A round in March of this year, which raised $32 million.

Today, the company is headquartered in Tel Aviv, with offices in the US in New York and Georgia. It employs around 60 people, half in Israel and half in the US. And, according to co-CEO Guy Benjamin, the company is already helping millions of American workers.

Looking ahead, Healthee believes its vision for the future of healthcare is bright and with its AI-powered platform leading the way, the company plans to revolutionize employee healthcare, one personalized experience at a time.

“Healthee only celebrated its third anniversary on May 1,” Maman says.

“For such a young startup to be already so significantly on the market, with paying customers, strategic partnerships and very strong financial backing is something that I haven’t seen in this industry.”