Brave Health, a virtual mental health platform focused on serving Medicaid populations, has raised $60 million from investors to support the company’s expansion into value-based care arrangements and into new and existing markets.
Since launching with health plans in Florida in 2019, Miami-based Brave Health has grown to serve more than 65 million covered lives across more than 200 health plan contracts through their approach to patient engagement, treatment, and integration with plans and other providers. Year to date in 2022, more than 23,000 individuals have been referred to Brave Health for care.
Earlier this year, the company announced its first value-based contract with Molina Healthcare of Texas. Working with the case management team at Molina Healthcare of Texas, Brave Health is engaging select members as they are discharged from the hospital to be engaged in a six-month episode of care, during which Brave Health places a specific focus on quality outcome measures such as seven- and 30-day follow-up appointment completion and ongoing care delivery. Participants will have the option to continue care from Brave Health indefinitely to ensure continuous support in their mental health journeys.
Brave Health also recently signed a value-based contract with Florida-based Medicaid insurer Sunshine Health, bringing the total number of potential Medicaid members under Brave Health's care in value-based arrangements to more than one million.
The company describes its process as a step-by-step approach to improving results – first, getting individuals into care quickly, and then providing continuous support to keep them engaged in their treatment. The Brave Health team employs nearly 200 behavioral health providers, including therapists, psychiatrists, peer support specialists, and nurse practitioners, all of whom work together to dramatically improve patient outcomes and reduce costs for health plans.
By working within the system and sharing data and insights, Brave Health said it is able to drive better short- and long-term outcomes and reduce costs associated with events like potentially-preventable hospitalizations, driving as high as a 66 percent reduction in readmission-related costs.
The company’s most recent funding round of $40 million was led by Town Hall Ventures, with existing investors Union Square Ventures, City Light Capital and others joining as well. Brave Health is the first investment from Town Hall Venture's recently announced $350 million fund.
"The team at Brave Health has demonstrated a commitment to doing the hard work of engaging the most vulnerable populations at their most vulnerable moments and getting them into ongoing care. And they're taking on the accountability to improve patient outcomes and ultimately reduce the total cost of care," said Andy Slavitt, general partner, Town Hall Ventures, in a statement. "We are thrilled to support Brave Health's expansion as they work to revamp the way mental health services are delivered and paid for on behalf of Medicaid populations across the country."
Brave Health will use these funds to continue to build the technology and data infrastructure that powers their patient engagement and outcomes engine, as well as to further expand into new states and accelerate the closing and activation of new value-based contracts in the 18 states in which they operate.
"Innovation in Medicaid care delivery and reimbursement models is critical for our healthcare system," said Anna Lindow, co-founder and CEO of Brave Health, in a statement. "Today, we're energized by the enthusiasm from our forward-looking investors and health plan partners around this aim."
