Via JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF Health

Transcarent raises a whopping $200 million Series C, valuing the one-year-old business at more than $1.6 billion — a higher valuation than would-be rival Accolade, which is listed on Nasdaq with a market cap of $1.3 billion Dollar. Executive Chairman and CEO Glen Tullman shared some very revealing details about the round, why he deliberately added the leading hospital system to his cap table, and his thoughts on potentially questioning whether Transcarent isn’t yet a billion Words from the skeptics of the dollar business. (Spoiler alert: Glenn said Transcarent didn’t even accept the highest valuation they offered…)

Investors are of interest to all who want to read the strategic message out there: Livongo late-stage investor Kinnevik led the round with Human Capital and Ally Bridge Group, and existing investors are back, perhaps most surprising Yes, the hospital system Northwell Health, Intermountain Healthcare and Rush University Medical Center. Obviously, other hospitals wanted to join, but missed the opportunity due to time constraints. Glenn explained his rush and why capital is critical to further expanding Transcarent’s offering given the market opportunity he sees among his employers.

It’s a payment model innovation game, folks, basically arming those big, self-insured employers with Glenn Turman’s bargaining power and healthcare ingenuity, he’s talking about the best executive leadership team he’s ever assembled . The pieces are definitely starting to come together, and to me it looks a lot like a new age payer. Transcarent basically gets PBM’s prescription drug pricing power in its relationship with Walmart…it’s a national network of high-end healthcare systems who are either partners or participating because of this funding round…the excellence it buys Business hub BridgeHealth…and some “coming soon” home care, cancer care and behavioral health products Glen teases us here. All services provided to employers are at the full risk of Transcarent, Transcarent does not charge members co-payments or coinsurance, does not charge employers any per employee monthly fee, and keeps suppliers satisfied with upfront payments. If it’s not a payer because it’s better than our current definition of a payer, that’s probably the only reason!

Still, Glenn told us that partnerships with some of the “most innovative” payers on the market are coming, along with new customer announcements. And, will he use the $200 million to further expand Transcarent’s offerings? I’m not afraid to ask him if he has a chronic disease management company and he’s eyeing acquisitions!