Health Tech Nerds Radio

Kevin O'Leary, Martin Cech

Where we share our weekly news debriefs and discussions with industry experts. These are lo-fi recordings aimed at giving our readers more opportunities to engage with our analysis and a view into some of the conversations that shape it.

  1. Aug 31

    The Grand Roundup: Wildflower Health CEO Leah Sparks on the $100B maternal health gap, the Every Mother acquisition, and D2C's next frontier

    This week's Grand Roundup is a replay of last week's Health Tech Nerds company presentation: Kevin sits down with Leah Sparks, CEO and founder of Wildflower Health, for a look into the maternal health and women's health market. Leah walks through Wildflower's model — a digital and AI-enabled wraparound care layer that fills the gaps between OB visits for pregnant and postpartum patients, working across payers, providers, and now, following its recent acquisition of Every Mother, direct-to-consumer. She shares two case studies (a retained-placenta catch and a self-harm intervention routed through 988) and the metrics behind the business. The conversation turns to the upcoming unbundling of the global prenatal fee and what it means for cost variation, employer spend, and value-based care. Kevin and Leah also get into the Medicaid-versus-commercial "it can't scale" myth, the case for D2C in maternity care, and where the postpartum journey (and Wildflower's involvement in it) actually ends. Brought to you by Garner uses industry-leading analytics to identify the best-performing doctors and reimburse employees when they see them, helping over 2.5 million people find better care at lower cost. Explore careers with Garner. GarnerHealth.com/careers Apply to attend Differential, an invite-only gathering for 100 of the most promising early-stage health tech founders and builders. differential.healthtechnerds.com For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

    The Grand Roundup: Wildflower Health CEO Leah Sparks on the $100B maternal health gap, the Every Mother acquisition, and D2C's next frontier

  2. Aug 24

    The Grand Roundup: Q2 earnings special — AI ROI finally shows up, managed care's comeback, Molina's ACA spiral, Hims' Bluetooth pill box pitch, and more

    Kevin and Martin are out this week, so TGR is running our Q2 earnings wrap-up with HTN's Sean Leimbach, covering the quarter across the HTN Research coverage universe. First up: AI. Centene's Sarah London gave what Kevin calls “the quote of earnings season” on the risk of spending big with no return, while Astrana pointed to a 210 basis point G&A win and Doximity's stock jumped 30%. From there, it's managed care's comeback: Humana as the sector's bellwether, Centene retreating from markets while Alignment and SCAN (teaming with Costco) push for share, Medicaid MCOs landing rate wins, and Molina stuck in its own little mini death spiral on ACA risk transfer. They also cover a run of confusing stock reactions to beat-and-raise quarters, the employer health boom behind Hinge, Omada, and Virta (plus Hinge's Cylinder acquisition), Hims CEO Andrew Dudum's Squawk Box pitch for a Bluetooth pill box, and Teladoc's BetterHelp cash-pay cliff. They close on hospital softness and ACA headwinds heading into 2027. Brought to you by Garner uses industry-leading analytics to identify the best-performing doctors and reimburse employees when they see them, helping over 2.5 million people find better care at lower cost. Explore careers with Garner. GarnerHealth.com/careers Links referenced The WSJ piece on healthcare as an "AI hedge”: https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/healthcare-investing-is-now-an-ai-short-in-disguise-104cb020 Kevin’s interview with Amit Shah, Virta Health: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/p/building-a-durable-metabolic-care-business-in-the-glp-1-era-virta-health-company-presentation-and-q Andrew Dudum's Squawk Box interview: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/08/18/watch-cnbcs-full-interview-with-hims-hers-ceo-andrew-dudum.html For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

    The Grand Roundup: Q2 earnings special — AI ROI finally shows up, managed care's comeback, Molina's ACA spiral, Hims' Bluetooth pill box pitch, and more

  3. Aug 17

    The Grand Roundup: Medicare for All's trillion-dollar trade-offs, STAT’s Commure probe, the ICHRA covered-lives boom, new rounds for Aligned Marketplace and Innovaccer, and more

    Kevin and Martin open on employer health: Bloomberg is asking staff to contribute to health insurance premiums after years of covering 100%, and a new survey shows small employers fleeing the big-three PBMs for centers of excellence and advanced primary care. Then they discuss Aligned Marketplace's $20 million raise and an HRA Council survey showing ICHRA lives roughly doubled year over year. They also talk about a Yale preprint claiming Medicare for All would save a trillion dollars a year — but nobody's grappling honestly with what that means for access and quality. There are lots of private market updates: Pearl Health's admin cost, a STAT investigation into Commure's Athelas unit over referral deals that raise kickback questions, Main Street Health's 533% growth, and Cityblock's new Humana partnership in North Carolina. They close with Hims & Hers earnings, where gross margin slid from 76% to 64% amid a shift to branded GLP-1s, and a managed care quarter where both the shrink-and-focus insurers and the grow-at-all-costs insurers somehow both won. Brought to you by Garner uses industry-leading analytics to identify the best-performing doctors and reimburse employees when they see them, helping over 2.5 million people find better care at lower cost. Explore careers with Garner. GarnerHealth.com/careers Links referenced National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions survey: https://www.nationalalliancehealth.org/news/employers-with-claims-data-access-take-more-action-on-healthcare-costs-national-alliance-survey-finds/HRA Council survey on ICHRA covered lives: https://hracouncil.org/report/Milliman/Society of Actuaries report on DPC cost savings: https://www.soa.org/globalassets/assets/files/resources/research-report/2020/direct-primary-care-eval-model.pdfYale School of Public Health preprint on Medicare for All: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.22.26358689v1STAT investigative reporting on Commure/Athelas: https://www.statnews.com/2026/08/12/inside-commure-athelas-mad-dash-automate-health-care/Thursday’s live Q2 public markets recap: https://luma.com/3bw3xhq3For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

    The Grand Roundup: Medicare for All's trillion-dollar trade-offs, STAT’s Commure probe, the ICHRA covered-lives boom, new rounds for Aligned Marketplace and Innovaccer, and more

  4. Aug 10

    The Grand Roundup: Doximity's AI comeback, Bank of America's $250M GLP-1 bet, Clover and Oscar's blowout quarters, HCMC's $705M bailout, and more

    Kevin and Martin dig into a busy week of Q2 earnings, starting with Doximity's whiplash quarter. From there they run through then payer calls: Oscar and Clover both grew close to 50% while improving MLR. They discuss Oscar's Oswell radiology agent and Clover's Counterpart licensing play, Hinge Health's investor day excitement and Cylinder acquisition, and Bank of America's $250 million GLP-1 spend. They close on Minneapolis' HCMC bailout, a Denver hospital antitrust standoff, and the current "value-based care is back" moment powered by Vytalize, Agilon, and a wave of new AI-enabled ACO enablers — before previewing Hims' earnings as a bellwether for consumer healthcare affordability. Brought to you by Garner uses industry-leading analytics to identify the best-performing doctors and reimburse employees when they see them, helping over 2.5 million people find better care at lower cost. Explore careers with Garner. GarnerHealth.com/careers Links referenced Bank of America CEO on GLP-1s: https://fortune.com/2026/08/07/bank-of-america-splashing-out-250-million-a-year-on-weight-loss-drugs-for-staff-great-impact-ceo-says/ Challenges for HCMC: https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-hospital-burned-through-cash-reserves-amid-behind-the-scenes-turmoil/601841297 For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

    The Grand Roundup: Doximity's AI comeback, Bank of America's $250M GLP-1 bet, Clover and Oscar's blowout quarters, HCMC's $705M bailout, and more

  5. Aug 3

    The Grand Roundup: BetterHelp’s cash pay collapse, Centene-Molina ACA divergence, Function’s 450M debt raise, Iowa’s managed care debate, and more

    Kevin and Martin chat about a packed earnings week: Teladoc's BetterHelp cash pay business fell off a cliff in mid-May, Humana passed its 2026 MA stress test but is still terming 600,000 members from low-star plans to hit its 2028 margin target, Centene raised ACA guidance a week after Molina's "death spiral" quarter, and Centene’s Sarah London's blunt AI cost-management comments drew comparisons to Palantir's Alex Karp. Cigna, Waystar, and Alignment round out the earnings discussion. They then move into private markets: Function raised $450 million in revenue-based financing from General Catalyst's Consumer Growth Fund, Included Health acquired Firefly Health, pairing navigation with an advanced primary care model, and Helia Health raised $14 million on a plan-optimization pitch that Martin calls a short-term arbitrage window rather than a durable business. They close on Iowa's governor's race, where Medicaid managed care itself is on the ballot, and a broader debate about whether the country is drifting back toward fee-for-service. Brought to you by Garner uses industry-leading analytics to identify the best-performing doctors and reimburse employees when they see them, helping over 2.5 million people find better care at lower cost. Explore careers with Garner. GarnerHealth.com/careers For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

    The Grand Roundup: BetterHelp’s cash pay collapse, Centene-Molina ACA divergence, Function’s 450M debt raise, Iowa’s managed care debate, and more

  6. Jul 20

    The Grand Roundup: Payer Q2 earnings, HCA's ACA miss, OpenEvidence & Doximity's PR war, fee schedule backlash, Neko's $7B valuation, and more

    Kevin and Martin kick off with Q2 payer earnings. Elevance's stock fell 11% despite beating estimates because the company signaled Medicaid market exits without giving Wall Street any sizing to work with, while United warned that the No Surprises Act is driving commercial trend higher than expected. They then discuss the OpenEvidence-Doximity documentation fight, with both citing the same study as proof that they’re winning, as well as reports that OpenEvidence turned down a $20B valuation while fielding acquisition interest from a "large tech player.” They close on the physician fee schedule — clearing up the misleading "CMS cuts pay" coverage and walking through the notice-and-comment process — before a rapid walkthrough of recent private deals: Corner Health's staff-free NP clinic model, Bunkerhill Health's $25M raise and the point-solution-versus-platform debate, and Neko Health's eyebrow-raising $7B valuation on eight clinics. Links referenced The Information on OpenEvidence: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/chatgpt-doctors-mulls-new-financing-20-billion-valuation Fortune on Bunkerhill Health: https://fortune.com/2026/07/16/bunkerhill-health-raises-55-million-ai-agents-work-inside-hospitals/ For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

    The Grand Roundup: Payer Q2 earnings, HCA's ACA miss, OpenEvidence & Doximity's PR war, fee schedule backlash, Neko's $7B valuation, and more

  7. Jul 16

    Betting on regulatory tailwinds: how Evidenced picks its deals | Bryan Sivak & Sean Glass

    Bryan Sivak and Sean Glass closed a $24 million first fund for Evidenced. They invest in healthcare companies benefiting from a regulatory or policy tailwind that pushes buyers to act sooner or spend more.Both are repeat entrepreneurs — Sivak sold his company, Glass took his public — and they walk through the portfolio bets that prove the thesis out, from a community health worker platform spun out of UPenn to a cardiometabolic care company navigating GLP-1 coverage. They're candid about the difficulty of fundraising as first-time managers competing against multi-stage giants for LP dollars, and they lay out which policy trends they think are durable versus which ones won’t last through the next administration. Links referenced Sean and Bryan (Evidenced): sean@evidenced.com, bryan@evidenced.com For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

    Betting on regulatory tailwinds: how Evidenced picks its deals | Bryan Sivak & Sean Glass

  8. Jul 15

    CMS Bridge forecast, broker fraud, and the ACA numbers everyone's misreading | Sam Melamed (NCD)

    Sam Melamed spent 20 years building Insurance Forums into the largest online community for insurance agents and brokers before becoming CEO of NCD, a top-rated dental, vision, and supplemental benefits administrator, five years ago. He argues fears of an ACA "death spiral" are overstated, and pushes back on claims that fraud alone explains recent enrollment declines. He also breaks down how CMS's new Bridge program for GLP-1s is likely to play out, and previews the pullback in Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits expected heading into the next open enrollment period. Links referenced Sam Melamed (NCD): sam@ncd.com For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe

    CMS Bridge forecast, broker fraud, and the ACA numbers everyone's misreading | Sam Melamed (NCD)
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About

Where we share our weekly news debriefs and discussions with industry experts. These are lo-fi recordings aimed at giving our readers more opportunities to engage with our analysis and a view into some of the conversations that shape it.

Information

  • Creator
    Kevin O'Leary, Martin Cech
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    95
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Kevin O'Leary, Martin Cech
  • Show Website
    Health Tech Nerds Radio

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