Today, the United States is the sickest country in the developed world.
We spend more per capita on healthcare than any other nation, but 90 percent of those dollars are spent managing chronic conditions after people get sick. Something is not working.
Health isn’t created in a doctor’s office. Going to the doctor after you’ve already developed diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, cancer or another chronic condition is like going to the mechanic after you’ve totaled a car. It’s the right thing to do – but wouldn’t it be better to avert the crash in the first place?
Truemed’s mission is to do just that: to shift more of our healthcare dollars toward True Medicine – exercise, good sleep, supplements, movement: the things that prevent disease, as opposed to just treating them once they’re sick.
When we met Truemed’s cofounder & CEO Justin Mares, we were compelled by his articulation of this extremely important mission to make preventive, health-creating behaviors accessible at scale. He explained how if our “great American sickening” continues, it will end the American experiment. It is impossible to have a healthy society made up of sick humans. His decade of experience as a successful serial founder building in health and nutrition has given him a rare clarity of vision, one that ultimately led him to build Truemed. There are few founders better suited to bring this vision to life.
We couldn’t be more proud to be partnering with Justin and leading the company’s $34 million Series A.
How does it work?
Truemed is premised on the idea that people should be prescribed healthy lifestyle interventions long before they need to be prescribed drugs.
Today, Truemed enables consumers to use tax-advantaged HSA and FSA funds on evidence-based lifestyle interventions. It does so with a simple option at checkout that prompts consumers to complete a telehealth intake form. A licensed provider reviews this information (alongside clinical research about the intervention) to determine if the product is a recommended intervention for the individual’s condition. If so, the provider can decide to write a unique Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN), which can unlock HSA/FSA spending on effective lifestyle interventions. For many consumers, they average 30 percent savings by using pre-tax funds.
The company already powers HSA/FSA payment acceptance for more than 3,000 merchant partners, including Peloton, Eight Sleep, Rogue Fitness, Garmin, Barry’s, Momentous, CrossFit, Athletic Greens, and many more.
This is just the beginning. Truemed is reimagining a future where prevention becomes the default setting of American health, where people can invest in the habits and tools that prevent disease long before they enter the medical system. We’re thrilled to partner with Justin and the Truemed team as they build toward a system that redirects the flow of U.S. healthcare spending from managing illness to creating health.
Join the mission – check out Truemed and explore careers at the company.
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Daisy Wolf is an investing partner on the Bio + Health team, focused on consumer health, the intersection of healthcare and fintech, and healthcare software.
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Julie Yoo is a general partner on the Bio + Health team at Andreessen Horowitz, focused on transforming how we access, pay for, and experience healthcare.
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Eva Steinman is an investing partner on the Bio + Health team.
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