Our Healthcare for Independents Pilot

Thanks to the 70+ people who joined our recent Show and Tell where we introduced and answered questions about a new healthcare platform called Vitable. We’re hoping to build a partnership with Vitable and launch a pilot for making many common elements of healthcare more accessible, affordable, and convenient to more people in the Philadelphia region who work outside of “traditional” employment.

The thing we didn’t anticipate was the range of thoughtful, challenging, & frankly important questions that came into the chat.

Turns out, an hour long session wasn’t nearly enough time to introduce a brand new, complex, and deeply personal concept while also thoroughly answering all of these questions!

We’re still gathering questions and feedback

In recent weeks, the live presentation we hosted (and embedded below) has prompted loads of valuable questions and feedback.

From these conversations, we’ve distilled some early answers that you’ll find below, along with where I think we’re headed next.

Once you’ve had a chance to read through the details below, please fill out this form to help us gather the questions & concerns that you weren’t able to voice in the live chat (or weren’t comfortable voicing in a public setting):

👉 Healthcare for Independents Pilot

Note: Everything shared in this form will be kept confidential, and ZERO personal identifying information will be shared, including with our partners. This information is only to help me and my team improve access and the services included, and communicate updates as we continue developing this project.

In the coming weeks, I’m working to compile the best answers we can to answer EVERY question that’s been asked so far, whether it was in the chat or via the form linked above.

If you asked a question during the February 3rd event that wasn’t answered, answers are on the way!

The biggest question, of course…

What exactly is Vitable? (and what is it NOT)

Vitable is a monthly subscription + app + concierge style service for accessing a suite of healthcare services without paying out-of-pocket fees.

Vitable is NOT insurance. It’s a similar model to Direct Primary care, which has a different economic model that tends to result in better care, lower overall costs, and less stress.

If we proceed with this pilot with Vitable, members will be able to to pay a flat monthly fee of ~$75 for their entire household for unlimited access to:

Primary care and triage services
Urgent care visits
In-home care, X-Rays, lab work
Discounted and mail-order prescriptions
…and a lot more.

That $75 is our discounted rate per household, inclusive of spouses, partners, kids, parents, even housemates. Live with someone else? It’s less than $40/person per month for all of the same access for each of you. Family of 4? Less than $20/person per month.

We will be able to offer that discounted rate once we have a minimum of 20 committed to signing up, and unlike insurance, we can continue to reduce costs even further (or add more services) using our collective buying power as a community. That, ultimately, is the goal.

Indy Hall will not be earning any sort of commission or kickbacks from Vitable subscriptions. We are only leveraging our reach to negotiate a lower rate for our community.

Is Vitable right for you?

Ultimately, the value of Vitable to an individual will vary depending on your needs, your existing out-of-pocket medical expenses, and other factors.

For example:

For people who currently do NOT have insurance, Vitable is not a replacement for insurance but a more affordable way to get access to primary care.
For people who DO have insurance, Vitable may help reduce some of your out of pocket expenses.
If you’re insured and get paid hourly, the time-savings and convenience aspects of Vitable alone may be worth it.

All of that said, Vitable absolutely has limitations, including critical needs that are common in our community. Some of these needs, they are already working on. Others, we may be able to address with additional partnerships and programs.

I see this as a critical starting point that we can build on, not a self-contained solution. More on this approach below.

Missed the live presentation + Q&A, or had to leave early? Here is a replay:

Most importantly, we’re listening.

In addition to enthusiasm for the potential of this pilot, we definitely heard the range of questions and concerns in the chat about the very real reasons why this particular program might not work for you.

Let me say clearly: This is not the end of the road for our efforts. It’s just the beginning.

We’re going to take our time to dig through all of the questions and concerns.

While we’re compiling our best answers, I wanted to offer a few reflections, and next steps:

Indy Hall is not a healthcare provider, nor do we aspire to be. We want to be an advocate for you and people like you, with the goal of making sure that your voice and needs are heard and understood by decision makers and care providers.
We’re approaching Vitable as part of a pilot, not a total solution. If this particular pilot doesn’t work, or if it doesn’t serve us, we move on to a new effort with all the information and experience gleaned from this one.
Our prospective partnership with Vitable will not be ideal – or even work at all – for everyone. This sucks…but the same is true of traditional insurance-based access. That’s a frustrating societal shortcoming, but an issue that I will continue volunteering my personal time and resources towards. “Fixing” the insurance based system is just a very slow, very long road, and we need to be working multiple angles at once. I’m actively working alongside professional advocates and policy experts to share details and stories of people like you, and they’re always looking for more.

And we’re working on some tools to help

Since everyone’s situation is different (and some are more complex than others), and sometimes these decisions come down to the cold hard numbers, I’m working with a health insurance expert to build a calculator that will help you easily (and privately) figure out if something like Vitable will actually save you money of the course of a year.

I’m also working on a series of educational pieces to start sharing more of the surprising – and often counterintuitive – lessons that I’ve learned over the last 10+ (!!) years exploring this arena.

So all of that to say, more is on the way.

But for now, we want to hear from YOU.

So again, please consider filling out this form to help us capture any questions & concerns that you weren’t able to voice in the chat (or weren’t comfortable voicing in a public setting):

👉 Healthcare for Independents Pilot

Note: Everything shared in this form will be kept confidential, and ZERO personal identifying information will be shared, including with our partners. This information is only to help me and my team improve access and the services included, and communicate updates as we continue developing this project.

And stay tuned for our next round of updates as we compile answers to everyone’s questions!

Thanks for your interest and encouragement,

Alex Hillman
Founder, Indy Hall

Our Healthcare for Independents Pilot – Update & Next Steps