HSA Startups - An Update
The HSA landscape is continuing to change at a blurring pace. It seems like there’s a new company entering the industry every month. Our goal in this post is not to mention all the new players in the industry, but only those that we believe are the most innovative and consumer-friendly. The companies we have chosen to highlight are all of the fintech / startup variety. These companies are tackling HSAs in their own unique way in an attempt to reshape their corner of the consumer healthcare landscape. Let’s start off with a newcomer.
Founded: 2019
Based: Austin, TX
Capital Raised: $5m
Partners: Radius Bank, Plaid, TD Ameritrade, Mastercard
Assets Held: Unknown
Jason Bronhorst and Colin Anawaty teamed up to launch First Dollar, a fee free healthcare savings platform that targets younger people and focuses on maximizing savings.
“We’re building a product that not only helps you maximize your savings but also offers great health care at a great price. We believe that, for every $1 you put into your First Dollar HSA, you should get $2 in value back in savings and spending.”- First Dollar CEO Jason Bornhorst
First Dollar has created a marketplace where members can get curated health care products and services at a great price. Members can see where they can get the most savings on certain medical products that available through the marketplace.
The startup is first focusing on drug discounts and has partnered with RxSaver, a national drug discount program. Let’s talk through a customer experience to make this more clear. Users can transfer their existing HSA to First Dollar or create and fund a First Dollar HSA. The First Dollar account will show them discounted healthcare products and services. Then a user can receive the discount at a local pharmacy by showing the cashier a code from First Dollar.
Founded: 2016
Based: San Francisco, CA
Capital Raised: 42.2M
Partners: Choice Financial, TD Ameritrade, Devenir, Visa
Assets Held: 200M+
Lively is a modern HSA platform for employers and individuals. Lively’s user-centric solution creates an intuitive user experience allowing consumers to get the most out of their HSA. Lively has been on an impressive roll ever since they arrived on the scene in 2016. They’ve built a proprietary HSA platform that is visually pleasing and easy to use. On the investment side, Lively partnered with TD Ameritrade to offer a fee free investment HSA. On the spending side, Lively has forged partnerships with Accesa Labs, Plush Care, Parasail, Simple Contacts, Cadid Co., Audicus and Pill Pack to offer exclusive discounts on products and services provided by these companies. On top of that they have slashed all fees to $0.
Lively is expanding their admnistrative services to other healthcare spending accounts. On Feb. 4th, 2020 Lively announced their intentions to start offering Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) that will include Medical / Healthcare FSAs, HSA-Compatible (aka Limited Purpose) FSAs, and Dependent Care FSAs. This is in response to the overwhelming customer and partner demand to bring its innovative approach and trademark dedicated customer experience to the traditional FSA experience. Specifically, the Lively FSA will enable employers to offer a more robust health savings package so employees can maximize their tax-free healthcare dollars smartly and effortlessly. The Lively FSA will be available for employers starting January 2021. Click on the following links to read our investment, spending, and small business reviews for Lively.
Founded: 2017
Based: New York City, NY
Capital Raised: $11M
Banking Partner: NBKC Bank
Assets Held: Unknown
Starship is a free mobile HSA with automated investing and health tracking tools in a beautiful mobile app built for humans. The Starship platform combines a mobile-first signup process, a native robo advisor platform for investing, easy reimbursements, and a chat service for expert advice.
Since we last wrote about Starship, they’ve built the first robo advisor specifically for HSAs. “We’re the first robo-advisor built for health savings accounts” - Starship CEO Sean Engelman. Starship charges .5% fee for handling the investment portion.
Additionally, Starship’s app serves as an educational tool, spreading klnowledge of the many items that are HSA eligible and not thought to be like acupuncture, condoms, dental care, psychiatric care, and therapy. “Our people are technology and health insurance experts. We can help you figure out where to spend your HSAs, all by chatting with us in the app” - Starship CEO Sean Engelmann.
Founded: 2017
Based: Boston, MA
Raised: $7M
Partner: UMB Bank
Assets Held: Unknown
Bend’s next generation HSA platform simplifies healthcare saving and offers personalized guidance that makes it easy for anyone to plan, track, save and pay for their healthcare expenses. Bend uses advanced technologies to help customers optimize tax benefits and health spending through their HSA account.
The Bend HSA comes equipped with the Bend Advisor, a unique tool that takes advantage of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning to recognize patterns and suggest optimizations. The Bend Advisor leverages behavioral economics and digital technologies to help customers easily maximize their tax savings, spend more wisely, grow their account balance, and achieve financial wellness. Current accountholders will also receive guidance messages, action recommendations, reminders and more. The Bend Advisor will be available on the Bend website as well as apps such as Facebook Messenger and Slack.
Let’s talk through a use case scenario where the Bend Advisor flexes its muscles. You can link any personal credit cards you have to the Bend system so that you can categorize spending as eligible and get reimbursed for expenses which allows you to take advantage of any other card benefits like cash back or travel miles. This way no expense is left behind, helping you maximize your HSA. Bend does all the work by finding your eligible expenses for you. Bend also lets participants link their checking accounts so that if a health-care transaction is made, the Bend Advisor will alert them that it is eligible for pre-tax treatment.