Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Telehealth Company Valued At $1 Billion
Bloomberg: Health Firm Backed By Golfer McIlroy Hits $1 Billion Value
Virtual health-care startup LetsGetChecked has raised $150 million in new financing to expand its business after seeing a boom in demand for its services during the pandemic. The funding round, which was led by Casdin Capital, valued the startup at more than $1 billion, Chief Executive Officer Peter Foley said in an interview. Other investors included CommonFund Capital, Illumina Ventures, Optum Ventures, and professional golfer Rory McIlroy through his investment firm Symphony Ventures, the company said in a statement. (Levingston, 6/7)
Stat: One Medical Eyes The Full Lifespan With Acquisition Of Iora Health
One Medical announced its plan on Monday to acquire Iora Health, expanding its primary care services for the Medicare population. The all-stock transaction, valued at $2.1 billion, would bring together two longtime players in the virtual care space and add to One Medical’s already-growing physical footprint by taking on Iora’s 47 in-person medical offices, now serving about 38,000 Medicare patients. (Palmer, 6/7)
Modern Healthcare: One Medical To Buy Medicare Advantage Provider Iora Health
One Medical, a primary care provider for commercially insured patients, hopes to break into the booming Medicare Advantage market with the purchase of Iora Health. San Francisco-based One Medical has been on an aggressive growth trajectory since well before its early 2020 initial public offering, and its potential $2.1 billion all-stock purchase of Iora announced Monday represents yet another expansion, this one not only into new markets, but into the fast-growing, potentially lucrative senior population. On an investor call Monday, leaders with both companies worked to emphasize their similarities. (Bannow, 6/7)
Axios: Scoop: VC Firms File Confidentially For Biotech SPAC
Three investment firms with deep health care investing experience are forming a new SPAC that will seek to buy a diagnostics company and take it public, Axios has learned. New SPAC formation has slowed, due to a glut of offerings and new SEC scrutiny, but plenty of veteran investors are continuing to jump into the arena. (Primack, 6/7)
Modern Healthcare: VCU Health, Bayada Partner To Offer Hospice And Home Health
VCU Health system in Virginia is branching into home health and palliative care with the formation of a new company called VCU Health at Home by Bayada, a collaboration with a national home health provider. Patients of VCU Health System will gain access to end-of-life care and services related to a recent hospital stay, thus keeping patients inside the system. The new company will begin accepting patients in early 2022, and is the first foray into the Richmond metro region by not-for-profit Bayada Home Health Care. (Gillespie, 6/7)
The Washington Post: Long-Awaited New Hospital In Prince George’s To Open This Week
A long-awaited regional hospital will open this week in Prince George’s County — a development that officials consider a vital step toward improving the health-care landscape in Maryland’s second-largest jurisdiction. The University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center, located near the Largo Town Center Metro station, originally was scheduled to open in 2017. But construction was delayed for years because of clashes about funding and the hospital’s size. The 620,000-square-foot, glass-paneled facility will replace the 75-year-old Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly, which will transfer its patients this weekend. (Chason, 6/7)
Politico: 32BJ Severs Ties With NewYork-Presbyterian Amid Broader Fight For Pricing Transparency
A powerful labor union has made good on its 2018 promise to defect from NewYork-Presbyterian over rising health care costs and is recruiting legislators to help it fight one of the main roots of pricing opacity. 32BJ SEIU, the property service workers union that provides benefits to nearly 200,000 people in the Northeast region, decided this month to drop NewYork-Presbyterian from its network starting Jan. 1, 2022, because the fund paid, on average, 358 percent more than Medicare for the same services across the hospital system's facilities, said Sara Rothstein, director of the 32BJ Health Fund. (Eisenberg, 6/4)
