Wellthy: The Future of Caregiving

The latest in family care: find out how Wellthy can help you.

Are you a caregiver or know someone who is struggling with this overwhelming responsibility? No one trains you how to handle someone who needs specialized care, unless you do it professionally. Now there’s help. We spoke with Lindsey Jurist-Rosner, the CEO of Wellthy, a new company that helps individuals and families manage and coordinate care for a chronically ill, aging or disabled loved one. Read on for the reason Wellthy came into being and how it’s taking caregiving into the future, while helping millions of families with a growing crisis in healthcare.

Here’s our interview with the founder and CEO of Wellthy, Lindsey Jurist-Rosner:

1) How did your personal experience as a caretaker inspire you to create Wellthy?

Wellthy Founder Lindsey Jurist-Rosner

I got involved in my mom’s care as a kid. She got diagnosed with primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Caring for her was the single hardest thing that I’ve done in my life–stressful, overwhelming, confusing, and lonely. There was no support or infrastructure to help my family. I was inspired to build Wellthy to help families like mine.

2) What did you learn as a caretaker that surprised you?

Lots! I learned how broken and confusing the healthcare system is. I learned how strong I can be in persevering through difficult moments and how powerful family is in taking care of one another. I also learned how incredibly rewarding and gratifying caregiving is. Caregiving is such a mix of intense emotions!

3) If you had to do it again, what do you wish you knew?

I wish I had known how to delegate. How to involve family members, ask for help, and find services/providers to support us.

4) Caretaking can be such a solitary experience. What suggestions do you have for others in this situation about how to stay connected to the world around them? What about self-care?

Caregiving is incredibly solitary! And self-care can often be overlooked. I would encourage all caregivers to share what they’re going through and definitely don’t bottle it up inside… it is way too hard. Lean on friends, family members, and leverage a therapist! In my late 20s, I finally sought support from a psychologist who helped me create boundaries and feel comfortable putting myself first sometimes.

6) What’s the first thing you want people to know about Wellthy?

Wellthy is here for them! Our team is building the business we’ve needed and wanted for our own families. Please do lean on us. Come to us for expertise, support, or to delegate some of your caregiving tasks. Anything we can do… we’re here to help!

7) How does the Wellthy team help caretakers communicate with medical practitioners?

If a family would like us to schedule appointments or communicate on their behalf to providers, we ask families to sign a simple consent form that allows us to obtain and/or release information on their behalf. This allows us to handle medical-related tasks however big or small!

8) Does Wellthy work with the care advocates that some insurance providers offer?

Certainly! We’ll work with all providers, services, or benefits in order to ensure the family is getting the support they need.

9) How does Wellthy help with the complicated situations that occur with bills and sorting them out?

Often families will come to us with a mound of bills, we’ll help the family sort through bills and negotiate/contest any bills that we believe may have been billed incorrectly. Our proudest moment was when we were able to support a grieving husband who had just lost his wife. He was saddled with over $400,000 in bills that we helped negotiate/contest down to approximately $300.

10) Can you tell us a little about the other services you offer, like legal help and housing?

We help families by providing navigation and coordination across six areas: 1) legal (power of attorney, healthcare proxy, advance directive, etc.), 2) financial (social security, benefits, insurance, tax deductions), 3) medical (doctors, prescriptions, hospital discharge planning, records, physical therapy), 4) in-home (safety, home care, modifications, companions and aides, transportation), 5) housing (senior living, short-term solutions, moving services), 6) social/emotional (support groups, social activities, memory care)

11) Where are your teams located?

We are headquartered in New York City although we have Care Coordinators across the US.

12) Who are your care coordinators?

Wellthy’s Care Coordinators are mostly social workers by background. They have previously worked in hospital, insurance, and other healthcare settings. Most importantly, they are passionate about working with families like yours to ease your care burden. We carefully screen and background check all candidates before certifying someone as a Wellthy Care Coordinator.

13) Are the fees affordable?

We charge $300 per month or $200 per month if a family commits to 6 months ($1,200 upfront). While these fees are prohibitively expensive for many families, we know that we’ll save a family a lot of money, time, and stress. Also, many employers now cover the cost of Wellthy. Please do ask your benefits/HR team if Wellthy is a covered benefit for your family.

14) What’s the first thing to do to get started?

Go to Wellthy.com and click “Get Started.” Setting up an account takes 30 seconds and we use the information you provide to match your family up with the best-fit Care Coordinator.

15) What’s next for Wellthy? 

In the next few months, we’ll be rolling out with more employer clients as well as announcing some additional exciting strategic partnerships. Our goal is to be in every home and supporting every family that needs us.

For more help on being a Caregiver, check out our section “For the Caregiver” and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, You Tube and Instagram.