Rock Health portfolio company Kurbo Health, which launched an app last year to help families manage childhood obesity as part of a 10 week program using health coaches, got what most startups crave — a health insurance customer. In an interview with Kurbo Health co-founder Thea Runyan about its largest customer to date, she said she believed Humana is the first insurer to cover childhood obesity.
It will offer the program to employer customers as an option to provide a 12-month subscription of Kurbo Health as a wellness benefit to employees.
The deal comes at a time when the company is working with several employers, payers and organizations on pilots and could pave the way to even larger customers.
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“It’s very exciting,” said Runyan. “It demonstrates that employers are recognizing that it is beneficial to cover weight management for kids.”
The problem with child and teen obesity is that it’s a thorny issue — parents need to be on board with any weight management program since they’re the ones frequently in the position of feeding their children. But they might be in denial or be unconvinced that it’s a problem. It’s a challenging issue for providers to broach.
The app is based on a pediatric obesity program developed by Stanford University Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Its focus is less about calories in favor of traffic light colors to guide children and teens so they make smart food choices. They work with parents to see what their weekly food color allowance is and new goals can be set each week.
For example: green foods like fruit and vegetables are encouraged, but food in the red category, which includes items that are fried or sugary and high in fat, should be eaten in moderation.
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Other components include virtual feedback and suggestions based on the foods tracked. Users can also receive live coaching by phone, video and text, to get feedback and encouragement.
Humana will use its own health coaches, trained by Kurbo. Results of Kurbo’s three-month beta test in the first half of 2015 convinced Humana to pilot Kurbo’s approach. The beta test included 50 families, and 86 percent of the child participants maintained or reduced their body mass index, and 88 percent of surveyed parents said that their families had adopted healthier eating habits, according to data from the company.
“We’ve really been working with the medical community to have this discussion on child obesity in a positive way, to address the longterm behavior change.”
Runyan estimates that 1,000 families have been through the 10 week program since its launch last year.
The military is among the organizations the company wants to court. As far back as 2012, obesity was a identified as a potential national security issue. Why? More than one-third of Americans are considered obese. Applicants are turned away because they’re too heavy. Even for those who get fit in boot camp and basic training may gain weight before they are deployed. The stress of deployment, being separated from family and friends for long stretches of time, often in stressful situations, can worsen the problem and create other medical concerns associated with obesity.
Photo: Flickr user Gaulsstin
