Amid all the Texas Rangers celebrations at Globe Life Park, the McKinney-based insurance company with the rights to the World Series Champion’s stadium made a local acquisition that gives innovative Evry Health a capital injection, allowing it to expand its disruptive approach to health insurance.
Since being founded in 2017, Dallas-based Evry Health established itself as a mobile-friendly and tech-first approach to health insurance that has eliminated the copay and deductible to remove barriers to care. In addition to North Texas, it offers plans in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio.
Early on, Evry established itself with independent monitors, earning accreditation with the National Committee for Quality Assurance, an independent nonprofit that uses evidence-based standards, measures, programs, and accreditation for healthcare organizations. It was also accredited by the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission. “It’s immediate legitimacy that this we run high-quality processes around care management, customer service, and population health,” Evry Health CEO Chris Gay says.
Evry will be an independent subsidiary owned by Globe Life, which was already an investor in the company. Gay will remain at the helm, and services will continue as usual but with a significant financial upgrade. Globe Life has $25 billion in assets and $5 billion – $6 billion in annual revenue and already has a $1.3 billion investment in medical and supplemental health insurance. The company writes a lot of large group and large employer plans as well as short-term disability plans.
Evry will bring a commitment to digital health to Globe Life’s portfolio. Its digital health engagement is 5-8 times what legacy health plans experience and has 40 percent digital health engagement. Gay says the tech is designed to be user-friendly and easy to use, and Evry’s nurse care guides encourage members to personalize their care plan. Evry has also gamified the digital health experience, allowing members to earn $1,000 annually by using their benefits.
“Telehealth shouldn’t be bolted on. If you want people to consume care and wellness that way, you’ve got to put it at the center,” Gay says. “You have to re-design everything around your digital product, including communications, enrollment, and care management.”
Gay says Evry has seen success with clients in the nonprofit, light manufacturing, professional services, and healthcare space. With the acquisition, he hopes to move into new markets, find new industries, and expand services. But customer experience is paramount, and despite the digital-first culture, he doesn’t want to replace authentic interaction with bots. “We want people talking to a human nurse care guide,” he says. “We want you talking to a customer service person because it’s a better member experience.”
It is full speed ahead for Evry since the acquisition. “We will be able to increase the scale and the pace of growth and how we can fix the broken healthcare system,” Gay says. “Globe Life has a great reputation, and we believe we’ve got the best product, technology, and member experience out there. We think it’s rocket fuel.”
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