Giannis Antetokounmpo invests in telehealth company – InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading Newswires
Topics
    • Life Insurance News
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Articles
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider Pro
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Health/Employee Benefits News
Newswires RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
August 12, 2022 Newswires No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

Giannis Antetokounmpo invests in telehealth company

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Giannis Antetokounmpo is currently in Greece, playing for the Greek national basketball team in early stages of the International Basketball Federation's EuroBasket tournament, Europe's premier basketball competition. His brothers Thanasis and Kostas are on the team, also, and youngest brother Alex was part of the training camp roster.

Through Greek news conferences and social media posts, it is clear how much fun the two-time NBA most valuable player is having playing with his brothers for his home country. He's a global superstar and a folk hero whose visage is on the team plane.

Yet he has never forgotten how his journey began, shaping the steps he's taken since – which currently includes the investment in and advocacy for a telehealth company called Antidote Health.

Related stories

  • Nearly half of all gig workers have no access to health insurance
  • California offers health insurance for $10 a month. The deadline is days away

"Affordable health care for all, no matter where you are from – race, circumstance, location," he said of why he got involved with the startup company. "Having access to affordable health care for all. It's something that growing up we didn't have, me and my family obviously being an immigrant illegally in Greece we weren't able to have that.

"I could see it in my mom and dad's eye that they were terrified when I was like 'oh, my stomach hurt.' Or, I have a headache or whatever the case may be. Or dad, 'my hand, my wrist hurt.' They were terrified. They were like what are we going to do? We have to find a way to treat this ourselves, you know? But just being able to allow all those people that don't have healthcare, that don't have access to it, to give it to them, put it in front of them.

"I believe you leave the world in a better place and at the end of the day that's what I want to do."

Antetokounmpo spoke with the Journal Sentinel just before heading to Greece to train for EuroBasket, and he said that living through the global coronavirus pandemic further illustrated that feeling and a desire to do more to give back.

"Not everybody has access," he said. "I'm fortunate to be able to play in the NBA when I was 18 and now I'm 27. I can go to the doctor. I can send my kid to the doctor. I'm able to have access. But there's so many millions of people in the U.S. and all over the world, but more in the U.S., that do not have that luxury like us. A re we going to turn a blind eye to that? Or are we going to do something about it? This is me doing something about it.

"I'm not a health expert but I believe in people. No matter if you're rich or poor, people are important, and at the end of the day what are we going to do about it? This is me doing something about it."

It's why Antetokounmpo was doing the interview, among many others as he was introduced as a seven-figure investor and spokesman for Antidote Health. Founded in 2021, the telehealth company has been raising seed funding to build an artificial intelligence-based virtual health maintenance organization (HMO) to give uninsured and underinsured people a chance to connect with doctors via virtual chatbots and video calls.

Wisconsin-based health providers such as the Marshfield Clinic, Aurora Health Care, Froedtert Health, UnityPoint Health, UW Health and Bellin Health have provided telehealth services for years, but Antidote's hope is that it can provide similar services without the need of insurance through one of those providers.

Dr. Nick van Terheyden of ECG Management Consultants, which is part of the Siemens Healthineers Company, noted that telehealth services don't address other issues such as access to reliable internet, smart phones or space for private conversations, but there is a definite advantage to its use.

"If you can provide people with ready-made access in underserved communities and you can satisfy the challenges of resources, the technology, smart phone and so forth, you're broadening access," van Terheyden said.

"I think there's plenty (of evidence) to recommend it, but it is not a clear (cut), hey, this will solve the problem."

A one-time primary care visit via the Antidote website is listed at $49, and a primary care package is available for $55 a month that includes 12 visits in a year and assistance with out-of-pocket drug costs. An individual also can purchase a primary care visit for someone else for $49.

It is important to note that in Wisconsin, physicians and nurse practitioners must be licensed in Wisconsin to diagnose and treat a patient in the state.

Antetokounmpo is an investor in Antidote, with the company saying he put a million dollars into the company. It's part of a burgeoning portfolio for the Milwaukee Bucks' superstar, who has invested in WatchBox, Wave Sports + Entertainment,Alt (a digital sports trading company) and the Milwaukee Brewers among others.

A study by Rock Health noted that in 2021, $29.1 billion was raised in digital health. That number has slowed in 2022 but is still expected to be larger than funds raised in 2020.

"It's definitely a land rush but we've seen that before with the internet boom of the late '90s and you saw the same fallout and there's no question you're going to see the winners and losers (of telehealth companies)," van Terheyden said.

He noted major tech companies taking big steps into health care, such as Amazon's $4 billion purchase of primary health care organization One Medical.

"Health care is great business," van Terheyden added. "And if you think about it as a business as opposed to actually a service the community – I personally don't – but if you think about it in that context if you're taking 18% of the economy and it's flowing through health care, that's a great business relatively resistant to downturns.

"I think telehealth is a clear winner."

What made this particular investment a bit different from some of his others, however, is Antetokounmpo wanted to put his face and voice behind the service. Other than a select few interviews following his first brand investment in Ready Nutrition in 2020, Antetokounmpo has not spoken publicly about his investments.

Why the change?

"Because I lived it," Antetokounmpo said. "I didn't have health care until I was 18, until I got to the NBA and I was able to go to the doctor, talk to the doctor. I wasn't able to do that. It's a lot of people not able to do it.... It's a human right, so everybody should have that access."

Older

Disability Income Compensation Insurances Market May See a Big Move : AXA, Aviva, Allianz, AIA: Disability Income Compensation Insurances Market 2022-2028

Newer

China Life Insurance Company Limited

Advisor News

  • For some, nothing to fear from taking RMDs, professor says
  • Half of investors plan to work after retirement
  • Cetera to acquire Securian’s retail wealth business
  • Study: Education level should drive decisions on Social Security, annuities
  • Former California energy company exec given 5 years in prison for $15M investment fraud
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • Investors scrambling to lock in rates propel annuity sales to record highs
  • North American and Annexus launch new fixed index annuity
  • Producers stew as insurers slow to process life and annuity applications
  • Substitute teacher wins massive lottery drawing in North Carolina. ‘Too good to be true’
  • Brad Rhodes: An annuity product many have never heard of
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • Nearly half of all gig workers have no access to health insurance
  • California offers health insurance for $10 a month. The deadline is days away
  • Amazon announces service to deliver medications to your door. Here’s how it works
  • COVID-19Another COVID ‘new normal’: more Californians dying at home
  • Seven sentenced in conspiracy to defraud federal health insurance programs
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance News

  • Cetera to acquire Securian’s retail wealth business
  • What does Curtis 'Cousin Eddie' Smith know in Murdaugh case?
  • Alex Murdaugh's murder trial starts with cellphones, bullets
  • Prosecutors, defense argue guns, bad acts in Murdaugh trial
  • Lincoln Financial Group offers new, fully automated life product, WealthAccelerate
Sponsor
More Life Insurance News
The time is 11:16:47pm test

- Presented By -

Top Read Stories

  • A Louisiana employer's health perks helped their workers lose weight. Here’s how.
  • US debt ceiling limit reached; Social Security, Medicare targeted
  • Former CEO of Texas beverage company sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud
  • LETTER: FEMA flood insurance is all but worthless
  • Progressive online practices set example for agents, other carriers
More Top Read Stories >

FEATURED OFFERS

Grow life insurance sales in 2023 with middle-market clients

Tap a new source for sales and referrals with Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

Don't Miss ICMG 2023

When the success of your business depends on making the right connections, ICMG is the place to be.

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

Topics

  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Articles
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2023 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your Insider Pro Account

Not registered? Become an Insider Pro.