In recent years, advisors have begun to consider healthcare planning as an important part of comprehensive financial planning but have often lacked the tools to make that possible.
That situation is likely to ease with Move Health acquiring Caribou Health Technologies Inc., a health planning application for financial advisors.
The merged firms will provide advisors and financial planners with the first end-to-end, unbiased healthcare planning solution tailored to their needs, according to the principals of both firms.
“Caribou’s award-winning HealthPlanner technology and Move Health’s enrollment process will create a frictionless experience for clients and advisors,” said Caribou founder and CEO Christine Simone, one of WealthManagement.com’s Ten to Watch in 2024.
The two companies are already integrating their platforms. Over the coming months, the best features of the HealthPlanner platform and Move Health’s software will be combined to form a seamless experience from healthcare planning and analysis to enrollment in selected products and plans for end clients.
Currently, the biggest benefit for advisor users of Caribou is the capability to enroll end clients in their chosen plan with Move Health’s guidance from licensed and federally certified agents, and provide access to plan options beyond Medicare and the Marketplace, according to Simone.
“We can also offer additional healthcare planning options to clients outside of Medicare and the Marketplace, including ancillary coverages like dental and vision, as well as Marketplace coverage alternatives,” thanks to the merger, she said.
In 2024, Caribou’s HealthPlanner technology won a WealthManagement.com Industry Award in the technology provider category for specialized planning applications. The application was also named a T3 Technology Tools for Today Software All-Star in the annual T3/Inside Information Survey.
The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Simone will join Move Health as a partner and member of the leadership team.
"The partnership of Move Health and Caribou ensures our clients will experience the best of both worlds—the personalized attention of Move Health's white-glove service, now complemented by Caribou’s health plan optimization software," said Move Health co-founder and Head of Strategy & Finance Josh Mushlock.
Move Health was co-founded by Cole Craven, Drew Shockley and Mushlock in 2023. While there is a limited starter package for $550 per advisor annually, most advisors doing comprehensive financial planning will likely select the Core package, which is $750 per advisor annually and gives full access to the Caribou HealthPlanner platform and unlimited enrollment referrals for clients. Firm-wide or enterprise package licenses are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
