Eldercare Startup Papa Loses Contracts With Major Health Insurers
Humana, Aetna, Molina decline to renew relationships after a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation revealed allegations of abuse.
Several major US health insurers, including Humana Inc., CVS Health Corp.’s Aetna and Molina Healthcare Inc., are declining to renew contracts with the eldercare startup Papa for the upcoming year, according to people familiar with the matter, after a Bloomberg Businessweek report detailed extensive allegations of abuse from seniors who rely on the service, and its workers.
The insurers’ decisions not to renew partnerships with Papa means the startup is losing some of the deals that make up its primary form of business. Papa relies on contracts with health insurers, including Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and employer-sponsored plans. Insurers that partner with Papa offer its service to their plans’ members, typically for a certain numbers of free hours per year. Members of those health plans, often elderly clients, can then request help with household chores, transportation or just company from the startup’s network of independent contractors. The people who described the insurers’ decisions asked not to be identified because the information is private.