Summary
Employer health care costs have risen 70% over the last decade while wages have grown just 30%. Kirat Kharode, CEO and Founder of HealCo, joins the Startup Junkies Podcast’s Fuel Accelerator health tech series to break down why self-funded employer health plans are becoming unsustainable, and how HealCo’s governance layer helps route employees to lower-cost, high-quality care before costs spiral.
In this episode:
- Why self-funded health plans are under more scrutiny than ever
- The site-of-entry problem driving up specialty care costs
- How HealCo’s governance and routing model works
- What a real cost-savings diagnostic looks like for employers
- Why Northwest Arkansas is fertile ground for this kind of infrastructure
This episode is part of our Fuel Accelerator series
⏱️ Chapters:
00:18 – Welcome & the Fuel Accelerator health tech cohort
00:42 – Meet Kirat Kharode, CEO & Founder of HealCo
01:00 – 20 years inside hospital C-suites
01:26 – Inside the self-funded health plan landscape
02:07 – Why costs are outpacing wages
03:06 – Site of entry: where health costs really start
04:02 – Specialty care and the $15K vs. $50K cost divide
05:33 – HealCo’s origin story and validation lab
06:36 – Building the governance layer and how employees benefit
09:06 – Sponsor: RISE Arkansas
09:33 – Validating the model & where self-funded care is headed
11:48 – HealCo’s 5-year vision, case studies & broker demand
15:49 – Why Northwest Arkansas, plus advice for CFOs
18:50 – Connect with Kirat + episode wrap-up
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Connect with Kirat & HealCo
🔗https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirat-kharode/
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The Startup Junkies Podcast is brought to you in part by RISE, helping Arkansas tech and tech-enabled startups grow with no-cost coaching, capital navigation, and expert connections. Learn more at RiseArkansas.org.
🎧 Follow the Startup Junkies Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
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