Why preventative care is hard to finance and how Truemed is trying to fix it | Justin Mares (Truemed)

In this episode, Justin Mares, CEO of Truemed, discusses why preventative care is widely supported but hard to finance due to limited ROI data compared to pharmaceuticals. He explains TruMed’s mission and business model: infrastructure that helps qualified individuals use tax-free HSA/FSA dollars for evidence-backed lifestyle interventions—such as fitness, sleep products, and medically tailored programs—through partnerships with merchants like Eight Sleep, Peloton, Lifetime Fitness, and Garmin, plus a direct-to-consumer eligibility flow.

The conversation covers how TruMed decides what qualifies (clinical evidence in reputable journals), the role of letters of medical necessity via a compliant telemedicine process, and the goal of building a more “formulary-like” system for prescribing lifestyle interventions based on biomarkers and outcomes tracking.

Justin also addresses criticisms that HSAs favor higher earners, argue for prevention as a tool to reduce chronic disease costs, and compare U.S. healthcare incentives with Singapore’s Medisave approach, emphasizing that fixing lifestyle and environmental drivers of chronic disease is essential.

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