The startup operating in the crowdfunding healthcare sector integrates Lightning payments with the support of Breez SDK.
CrowdHealth, a crowdfunding platform dedicated to the healthcare sector, has recently announced the integration of Lightning payments with the assistance provided by the Breez team.
The CrowdHealth business model
The primary goal of CrowdHealth is to provide an efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional health insurance.
In the United States, the significant costs of healthcare can weigh heavily on citizens’ pockets. The country has healthcare costs significantly higher than other developed nations with similar economic situations.
In response to this issue, CrowdHealth offers an alternative model. Through a monthly subscription fee of just $50, CrowdHealth takes on the task of negotiating medical visit fees to ensure the lowest possible price for its users, manages user accounts, offers discounts on medications, and guarantees access to the crowdfunding service for members.
A fundamental part of the platform is crowdfunding itself. In contrast to traditional insurance that requires a lump sum to create an insurance fund to draw from for medical expenses, with CrowdHealth, users contribute to the monthly fee for expense negotiation and to access other features directly offered by the platform. Users can rely on voluntary fundraising by other platform members to cover any medical expenses. The idea is that people will make a gesture in advance to help other users with their expenses, in the hope that these users will reciprocate in the future.
The integration with Breez
Before integrating with Breez, CrowdHealth only offered traditional “fiat” payment methods, which posed obstacles both in terms of transaction costs and timing.
For instance, a bank wire transfer in the United States could easily cost $20-30 for a single transaction, thereby reducing the donated funds that could be allocated to members’ medical expenses. In some circumstances, a wire transfer could take days or even weeks to be processed. On the other hand, Lightning offers minimal fees and immediate payment finality.
