The Minneapolis-based company, which is led by a former UnitedHealthcare CEO, could eventually employ a couple dozen people in Austin.
Health insurance startup Bright Health is opening a tech office in Austin, Texas, that could eventually employ up to a couple dozen people.
The Minneapolis-based startup, which is led by a former UnitedHealthcare CEO and a team of serial health care entrepreneurs, will still have tech staff in Minneapolis. Employees at the Austin office will focus on building the company’s consumer-facing products, such as mobile applications for booking appointments and virtual-care visits, said Kyle Rolfing, co-founder and president.
Austin is a strong market for talent with expertise in consumer technology, he added. “We have a tech team in Minneapolis that has a great background and experience given all the health care here. There’s different expertise in different markets.”
Bright Health landed an $80 million round of venture funding earlier this year and is busy preparing to enter its first market: Colorado. The company is only selling health plans for individuals, and will partner with a sole health system in each market it enters. In Colorado, it’s teamed up with the state’s largest care provider, Centura Health.
Many insurers in the individual market are moving toward narrower networks for multiple reasons, including that it’s easier to offer lower premiums. Bright expects its strategy to pay off for both itself and its health system partners.
“We’re aligned to grab market share based on good pricing,” he said.
Centura and Bright are jointly branding plans and will share in profits.
Bright is in discussions with a couple dozen health systems across the country, Rolfing said. It will limit the number of markets it enters in 2018 to less than a dozen. Minnesota isn’t often the table, he said. The state mandates that health maintenance organizations operating here be nonprofit, but Bright would likely file as what’s called an exclusive provider organization. As an EPO, it could still sell health plans here.
Date: October 19, 2016