InnovationRx is your weekly digest of healthcare news. Sign up!
InnovationRx is your weekly digest of healthcare news. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here. W e head into the holiday break with a cautionary tale for founders and executives: it’s not a good look to express gratitude for benefits you’ve taken away from your own employees. As Forbes exclusively reported last week, mental health startup Cerebral, which raised $300 million at a $4.8 billion valuation led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in December, changed the contract status of more than 200 of its employees from salaried to hourly workers over the summer and switched eligibility for medical, vision and dental benefits to be contingent on hitting certain quotas. After the change was announced internally, Cerebral cofounder and CEO Kyle Robertson posted a message on LinkedIn about how “lucky” he felt to have health insurance, since he knew how difficult it was to be uninsured as a “cash-strapped first time founder” when he was getting the company off the ground. While Cerebral ultimately extended health benefits for affected employees through December 31, come January their benefits will be tied to monthly quotas to be reviewed every 90 days. Robertson did not respond to a follow-up question asking to explain how, given his personal experience, he justified taking health insurance away from some of his own employees. In more positive news, the Biden administration announced today that 13.6 million Americans have already signed up for individual health insurance coverage for 2022 under the federal and state marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, Forbes senior contributor Bruce Japsen reports. It’s a record high enrollment for Obamacare plans and there’s nearly a month left to go, as people can sign up through January 15. Many health insurers have expanded their Obamacare plan offerings this year, as premiums have stabilized thanks in part to increased and expanded subsidies included in the American Rescue Plan. A housekeeping note: We’ll be taking next week off and will return with your weekly digest of healthcare news on Wednesday, January 5.
