Raising Health Making Healthcare Affordable for 80 Million Americans
Feb 5, 2026
Florian Otto, cofounder of Cedar (modernizes patient billing with AI), and Nikita Singareddy, cofounder of Fortuna (simplifies Medicaid enrollment). They discuss healthcare affordability, AI voice agents improving access and multilingual support, Medicaid’s paperwork and system fragility, and how data-driven tools can reduce barriers and administrative burden.
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Medicaid's Scale Meets Outdated Infrastructure
- Medicaid covers nearly 80 million Americans and faces growing administrative strain that blocks access.
- Legacy paper systems and 1990s technology prevent eligible people from getting coverage.
Churn Between Payers Hurts Provider Margins
- Patients move between Medicaid, commercial, ACA, and self-pay over time, creating instability for providers' revenue.
- Small shifts in collections matter because provider margins are often only 1–2%, so missed payments quickly erode viability.
Use Counselors But Pair With Tech
- Deploy financial counselors to guide patients through complex billing and enrollment processes.
- Use counselors selectively because manual support is costly and not scalable without tech augmentation.