TrueMed’s Payment Integration Platform Unlocks HSA/FSA for Health, Not Sickness

Image credits: true med

Medications may be easier than exercise and eating right, but true med I want to change my mind about that.

Callie Means and Justin Meles last year founded a payments integration company that makes it easy for consumers to pay for healthy food, exercise and supplements using money from tax-free health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts. did. Moreover, compliance with regulations.

Typically, such medical purchases are approved with documentation of medical necessity from your doctor after certain data is collected. TrueMed’s secret sauce is thanks to telemedicine laws that emerged as a result of the global pandemic. You can collect that information and create notes seamlessly and asynchronously without ever seeing a doctor.

“Our long-term goal is to break the notion that 95% of money is spent on post-illness interventions,” Means told TechCrunch. “We’re going to go bankrupt with health care costs, we’re going to become an uncompetitive nation with more illnesses. We’re going to have to do everything we can to stay healthy,” he says. We must ask how health care dollars can actually be spent to encourage these habits.”

TrueMed launches today It has already amassed $3 billion in gross proceeds from companies like CrossFit, Magic Mind, and Kos.

origin story

If the names of both Means and Mares look familiar, it’s because they are both serial entrepreneurs.means you previously co-founded a wedding dress company anomaly With wife Leslie Voorhees Sold to David’s Bridal last year. Meanwhile, Mares previously founded health food brands Kettle & Fire and Perfect Keto.

They have raised $100 million together for their previous ventures. At TrueMed, he raised $3.5 million in SAFEs (simple agreements for future equity) from investors including functional medicine pioneers. Mark Hyman and founder of Thrive Market, Eight Sleep, and Levels.

Before founding the company, Means spoke with Mares: met with representatives The White House and Capitol Hill will provide information to verify compliance.

For Means, TrueMed was a huge help to his mother, who recently died from a preventable food-related illness, and his physician sister, Casey Means. level, A person who specializes in metabolic health.

“This expands the scope of the HSA/FSA to items that are not normally covered, and we have had a tremendous amount of engagement,” Means said. “Our insights are unlocking a broader range of health and wellness products through telemedicine integration.”

unlock dollars

Means calls these types of savings accounts “a very powerful tool,” and estimates that about $140 billion is sitting in these accounts. Almost unused. At the beginning of this year, The IRS increased the amount You can donate to a health savings account $4,150 for individuals and $8,300 for families.

So how do you unlock it? TrueMed’s business model is to partner with health and wellness brands. According to Means, this is the only approved Shopify payments integration. Once approved, TrueMed integrates with merchant checkout systems.

Consumers who choose to pay that way will be asked several health-related questions after entering their HSA/FSA information.TrueMed will then contact the provider Who issues notifications of medical necessity asynchronously, as appropriate.

“We’re basically doing health care intake similar to credit intake, where you can use HSA/FSA funds to pay directly into your payment flow,” Means said. “That’s the key to what we’re doing. We’re adding a telehealth component to payment flows for leading health and wellness brands and expanding HSA/FSA to items not typically covered.”

The company will then continue to add merchants to its customer base to channel funds to consumers who adopt healthier habits. As the fourth quarter approaches, Means said about 80% of Americans will be eligible for an HSA or FSA and will choose to make contributions.

He is one of them, telling TechCrunch that his family has maxed out their HSA for the first time and plans to use it to buy things to support themselves. voorhees And their children are healthy.

“We want people to start looking at their HSA and FSA accounts as a tool to direct them to items that will help them stay healthy,” Means said. “Our message is that diet and exercise are medicines and can be prescribed.”