Molly Breitenbach is the Chief Operating Officer of Candid Health Advisors, a health consulting firm with a unique mission: to empower employers and employees to change the healthcare system. She is also a mentor for our 12-week startup course, CAMPFIRE, which is based on Y Combinator’s startup class at Stanford University. Molly is a CPA with extensive experience in business and tax accounting.

We asked Molly a series of questions about Candid Health Advisors, her journey as an entrepreneur, and her time at Groover Labs.

Tell us about Candid Health Advisors. How long have you been there, and what do you do?

Candid is a health consulting firm that is changing the way healthcare is purchased. I'm the COO (there are only two of us right now, so that title means I also am marketing/business development, finance, IT . . .). I've been in this role for a year after a decade-plus-long career in public accounting and consulting. 

The "About" section on Candid Health Advisors says, "[w]e’re crafting bespoke and innovative solutions to realign incentives and redefine health benefits." Bespoke and innovative solutions in health care sound like difficult services to provide.  How is that better than the current system? 

I could talk all day about this. I always start with the idea that the current healthcare system is "broken". We actually argue that the system itself isn't broken - it's operating exactly as it was designed. The design is the problem. We are breaking the current design to make it so it actually works for the employer and employees. Employers and employees don't realize the power they have to effect change in the design of the healthcare system. They are the actual consumers of care, yet they are almost always cut out of the transaction. 

Can you elaborate on "realign incentives"? 

Absolutely. Right now, a traditional employer-sponsored plan (that is, a health plan that is offered to employees by their employer) contains several different components. You need someone to administer the plan and get providers paid, you need someone to handle prescription medications, someone to actually provide the care, etc.

Here’s what the healthcare system looks like today:

We believe that with the current design, no component is correctly incentivized to provide appropriate care at a fair price. Most make more money when claims go up...so what incentive does anyone have to actually keep healthcare costs low and employees healthy? Also, many of the components in a traditional plan are actually owned by the same company - they'll just call it by a different name. What we are doing is using only independent vendors - meaning vendors that are paid flat fees versus commissioned based on a percentage of spend. We also layer in other cost containment strategies like direct primary care (membership-based primary care where employers pay a flat monthly fee instead of by visit), direct contracts with providers, and alternative sourcing for medication to further accelerate savings. 

What does direct primary care for businesses look like? For example, if I'm an SMB - let's say I have 20 employees - how can Candid Health Advisors help with healthcare options for my employees? 

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a key component to the plans we offer and a fantastic way for small businesses to provide a cost-effective health benefit to their employees (plus, the care is outstanding...once you try DPC, you get so used to the level of service that it's very difficult to jump back into the traditional model). We can work with businesses of all sizes to design something that works for their company. We want to meet people where they're at - if they've never offered any kind of benefit, we can help them dip their toe into this world.

You work with Brandon Alleman, MD, PhD, at Antioch Med. How did you meet, and what was the tipping point that brought the consultancy together? 

Brandon and I have known each other for years - I was introduced to him by a mutual connection when I moved back to Wichita in 2018. He launched Candid and brought me on to run the day-to-day as he's still a practicing physician who owns a DPC (Antioch Med). We have different skill sets that complement each other, so it's been great to leverage our individual strengths to help spread this idea across the area. 

You're a Groover Labs member and CAMPFIRE subject matter expert. How have the Groover Labs and CAMPFIRE experiences helped you on your journey? 

When I was in Kansas City, a large part of my book of business was with startup companies. I've always been drawn to the startup world, and I hounded Dave Cunningham about getting involved with CAMPFIRE when it launched several years ago. Groover has always hosted fantastic events, and I always found myself attending and feeling envious of the people who got to office there. I never dreamed that I'd have the guts to enter the startup world myself, but hearing the stories of both CAMPFIRE students and Groover members were really inspiring. The adjustment from the uber-corporate world to the startup world was more jarring than I anticipated, so having Groover as a home has been amazing. Both CAMPFIRE and Groover are just so welcoming of entrepreneurs in our community. A lot of people thought I was crazy for leaving my career, but those at Groover and CAMPFIRE have been nothing but supportive.