Help is on the way for employers grappling with rising healthcare costs after Thatch locked in $40M of Series B funding to help tailor benefits to the needs of employees.
Thatch is dislodging health coverage from employment by providing individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRA) that let employees choose their own benefits.
- By blending fin-tech and health-tech tools, Thatch gives employers a way to “abstract away the complexity” of the ICHRA law that passed in 2020, which enabled them to provide a monthly budget to employees for selecting their own health benefits.
- The Thatch platform streamlines budget setting, plan selection, and lowers costs through pooled purchasing power. If employees spend less than their budget, they receive a Thatch debit card to use for things like prescriptions, copays, and therapy.
Thatch CEO Chris Ellis shared on LinkedIn that one of the reasons why health coverage feels so broken is because it wasn’t designed for humans, it was designed for HR departments.
- Ellis has a different vision, and it’s being met with open arms: “Imagine choosing your health plan like you choose your car. Imagine keeping it when you switch jobs.”
- Although Thatch hasn’t revealed any official revenue numbers, it’s reportedly onboarded over a thousand companies in the last 18 months – including big names like Jersey Mike’s and Dave’s Hot Chicken – and grown revenue by 8X year-over-year.
The Series B funding will allow Thatch to “double down” on its vision to make health benefits accessible for every American through deeper integrations with carriers and payroll systems.
- That includes an API service that allows partners to embed ICHRA directly within their own product, which already has QuickBooks signed on as a marquee client.
- Thatch is also bringing on Gary Daniels, the former CEO for UnitedHealthcare’s Pacific Northwest division, as its new Chief Growth Officer to help make it all happen.
The Takeaway
Most current health benefits solutions were designed for a workforce that stayed with a single company for most of their careers, and have had a tough time keeping up with today’s dynamic labor market. Thatch is among a new pack of startups building the infrastructure for a modern experience, and it seems like both employers and employees have a lot to look forward to.
