Healthcare doesn't feel like it's meant to help you live your healthiest life.
It feels more like it's meant to stress you out and keep your bank accounts empty.
mission: make healthcare more humane.
Why We Care
It's time for us to get a reset.
Your insurance shouldn't change without notice
Healthcare is one of the most intimate, routine experiences we have, you shouldn’t feel like a number.
All this tech and we're still paying copays?
Health insurance hasn’t evolved, it’s devolved and worse than ever.
You shouldn't need to choose between being healthy and being broke.
Ask any of your friends or family when is the last time they hesitated to get care because of what it could cost? Ravida empowers you to be proactive with your health.
It all started with an ant.
Here's our origin story.
We built Ravida to solve our own problem. After being separated from a position in early 2023, I also lost my health insurance. The company offered to pay my COBRA premiums for six months, but never followed through or responded when I reached out to get them covered. I've never been one to visit a doctor's office, only to refill my asthma prescription every few years.
In this case, I really needed a medical professional because I sat in a pile of fire ants. Over the course of four weeks one of my bites turned into a bullae (don't Google it) the size of a tennis ball.
I didn't want to go to a doctor because I didn't know how much it would cost. I had heard horror stories from people who have emergencies and still paid a ton even with insurance. I was afraid and wanted to try telehealth. I ended up going with CVS because they had medical staff on site and also very clear pricing charts for all kinds of ailments.
Turns out all I had to do was take antihistamines and take care. Two weeks of intense pain that could have been handled much earlier - if I had health insurance.
Found out that I'm not the only one. The dependence on employer-sponsored health insurance, the rising costs of healthcare, the opaqenuess of healthcare billing, and the stagnation of wages has created a perfect storm. And that's why 100M U.S. adults have some kind of healthcare related debt.
I built Ravida to end that.
- Ravida CEO, Founder
Ravida means "heal" in Estonia, that's what we aspire to do for our users.
That is the essence of what we build this company for.
There is a complex choice that people make every day of whether or not to pursue health-related treatments (whether necessary or elective) or become more financially secure.
This isn't how it should be.
Think this is a small problem?
Here are some stats for you.
100 million
U.S. Adults that owe some form of healthcare debt. 44% who owe more than $2,500.
62%
Percent of employers who have moved to high-deductible health insurance plans, passing rising costs off to their employees.
170 Million
U.S. Adults that worry about being able to afford their household's unexpected medical or health related expenses.
$31,000
Annual healthcare costs of a household of four, even though they have health insurance through an employer.
40%
U.S. Adults that either delayed or didn't receive medical care because of a concern about how much it would cost.
$4.3 Trillion
Annual healthcare expenditures of adults in the U.S. - about $12,000 per person
There's more where this came from.
Our BHAG: Universal Health Care
Our big hairy audicious goal is to bring universal health care to the United States.
The first step in this journey is to prove that people will pay a percent of their income to not have to worry about any financial surprises due to their healthcare.
Once we have that proof of concept, we can then move to the next phase...getting approved as an altnerative form of insurance.
With Ravida, your healthcare is on autopilot. You can get a nutrionist, therapist, midwife, personal trainer, etc...all included as a percent of your income.
There is no more hesitation about seeing a dermatologist or getting new shades for the summer.
This is how healthcare should be. Humane.
You need it, you get it.