Launch Health check-up: medZERO simplifies medical bill pay with zero interest, zero fees

Editor’s note: The following is part of a series of stories on the six cohort companies of the Launch Health Accelerator, powered by Nueterra Capital and sponsored by LaunchKC. Click here to read all the stories published in this series.

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Paying medical bills should be as simple as making a car payment, said Mike Sobek. 

“We all know how to do that zero percent car loan. We took that idea and applied it to healthcare,” explained Sobek, CEO of Kansas City-based medZERO — a healthtech platform which provides immediate mobile access to funds that can be used to pay medical bills with zero interest and fees. 

“It’s really hard for a family who wants to keep their premium low every month. As soon as an event occurs, what do they do? Right. They look for different options,” Sobek noted. 

Founded in 2017, medZERO is a collaboration between another of Sobek’s companies — Mobile Capital Group — and Portland, Oregon-based Sortis Holdings, the CEO explained. 

“We formed medZERO with the purpose of providing a healthcare payment solution for the industry, realizing that there is a void between higher deductible plans that have been introduced in the last six or seven years where the deductibles rose from $250 to $5,000 or $6,000 today,” Sobek said. 

Launch Health Accelerator 2019 cohort

Working to bridge such a gap, medZERO signed on to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Launch Health Accelerator, powered by Nueterra Capital and sponsored by LaunchKC. The accelerator is set for a Nov. 20 demo day at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in downtown Kansas City.

“We wanted to work with the community. We’re starting to pursue employers throughout the area. I grew up in Kansas city. We’ve got a great network. We know [managing partner Jeremy Tasset] through Nueterra and we’ve seen how they’ve grown in the last several years and we want to ride along with them,” Sobek said of how the company became involved with Launch Health. 

“And given their healthcare experience and relationships in the marketplace, we thought it was a great opportunity and we jumped on it,” he added.

The decision has quickly paid off, Sobek noted ahead of the 10-week program’s close. 

“We wanted access to the network Nueterra has. There’s so many employers that are watching it and our doors are opening and no one really says no,” he said, detailing success in partnership building throughout the cohort. 

“It’s like, ‘Hey, we heard about medZERO,’ our product works across the board — all medical, dental, vision, pharmaceutical, anywhere in the United States, 80 carriers.”

Bringing such aspects under one platform could greatly simplify a healthcare market that’s become increasingly complicated, Sobek said. 

“What we want to do is build this model in Kansas City. I want to take care of the people here. I’ve got a ton of friends here and we’re going to make this happen.”

Click here to register for Launch Health Demo Day, set for Nov. 20.

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This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn