Greetings! A new year, a clean slate, and new opportunities ahead. At FinMed Partners, we will have the same laser focus on healthcare payments and banking. For new readers, welcome! FinMed Partners is a leading management consulting and advisory business focusing at the intersection of payments, banking, fintech and healthcare. Our goal is to bring you fresh content every month, including original perspectives and a round up of industry news, data, and deals. You can send comments and ideas for future issues to info@finmedpartners.com.
Remember to download our Demystifying Healthcare Payments white paper here. And reach out here to schedule time if you'd like to take a deeper dive.
PNC Healthcare offers a fully integrated suite of tools, solutions, and advisory services to help the healthcare ecosystem maximize working capital, streamline administrative processes, mitigate financial risk, and access capital for investment and growth.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Trump proposes 10% cap on credit card interest rates
On January 9, President Trump called for capping credit card interest rates at 10%. While not clear how the administration would enact such a move, reaction was swift from the banking industry. A statement from bank trade groups said "evidence shows that a 10% interest rate cap would reduce credit availability and be devastating for millions of American families and small businesses who rely on and value their credit cards, the very consumers this proposal intends to help."
Bank, credit card, and payment network (Visa, Mastercard) stocks all declined following the announcement. In a note, the Fintech team at William Blair believe this is a market overreaction for the payment networks. "Any such cap, if enacted, which we believe is unlikely, would have no material effect on Outperform-rated Visa or Mastercard as neither company generates revenue from interest. Further we reiterate the Outperform rating of American Express and view any pullback as a buying opportunity."
According to Aaron McPherson, principal at AFM Consulting quoted in American Banker, "in all the industry responses to the president's proposed cap from industry associations, not one has suggested that he cannot do it". If Trump acts unilaterally, "credit card issuers would have to comply, unless they can get a court injunction".
Note: as we go to press, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) have reintroduced the Credit Card Competition Act, which President Trump endorsed on January 13.
Stripe merchants now able to accept cryptocurrency
Stripe, a leading global payment processor with a strong U.S. presence, announced it is working with Crypto.com to accept cryptocurrency as a form of merchant payment. Stripe processed over $1.4 trillion in payments in over 135 currencies in 50+ countries in 2024. The agreement enables customers at Stripe merchants to pay with a variety of crypto or stablecoins. The payment is then converted and settled into the merchant's preferred local currency. According to FinMed Partners analysis, Stripe currently processes nearly 20% of payment volume across the medical, aesthetic/ medspa, dental, and veterinary markets.
Curing Sticker Shock: Employer Fixes for 2026 Healthcare Costs
Employer-sponsored healthcare is bracing for a wave of affordability challenges as open enrollment arrives for 2026. Costs are expected to surge again, forcing employers and employees to revisit their benefit strategies and budgets. With U.S. healthcare costs again expected to be well above general inflation, new plan designs and affordability solutions are emerging as critical tools for companies aiming to preserve coverage and control expenses.
How Rising Costs Are Shaping Employer Strategy
Healthcare affordability is no longer a side issue for employers—it is now central to workforce well-being and business planning. Analysts are forecasting medical cost for employer-based plans rising by as much as 10% in 2026, with average annual employee premiums for family coverage already reaching $6,850 in 2025 according to KFF. As federal government subsidies face uncertainty and the ACA landscape evolves, both large and mid-sized employers are introducing innovative solutions to cushion workers against “sticker shock” and reduce their own bottom-line exposure to rising claims.
Several models have emerged to help better employers and employees manage rising medical costs. One addresses fundamental plan design. A second gives employees access to low cost credit to help pay for healthcare under any type of healthcare plan.
Click here to read more about these models, including coverage of Surest Health, Coupe Health, PayMedix, and Paytient.
CEO CHAT
Tom Torre, CEO, Xformative
We first met Tom several years ago when he was CEO of Bend Financial (now part of Webster's HSA Bank), a disruptive entrant into the HSA and healthcare benefits fintech market. Tom brings an impressive healthcare and fintech pedigree, having also held senior leadership positions at WEX and Alegeus, where he helped shape the consumer-directed healthcare landscape.
Now Tom leads Xformative, which delivers solutions for specialized and regulated spend management, enabling customers to handle complex transactions, card processing and ledgering services with compliance and transparency.
Click here for Tom's thoughts on why Xformative was founded, its right to win, and the company's key goals for the next 12 months.
AI IN HEALTHCARE
AI as a Healthcare Ally. Published in January 2026, looks at how Americans are navigating the system with ChatGPT. More than 5% of all ChatGPT messages globally are about healthcare; of more than 800 million regular users, one in four submits a prompt about healthcare every week. (OpenAI)
Healthcare Services AI Agents: A $155 Billion Opportunity. Report breaks down a new taxonomy for provider, payer, and “payvider” AI agents; tracks surge in venture activity—$3.4 billion raised through Q3 2025 alone; and highlights early leaders shaping the market. (PitchBook)
Health Systems See Promise in Generative AI for Documentation and Revenue Cycle Accuracy But Adoption Gaps Persist. A December 2025 report by HFMA and AKASA, a provider of generative AI for healthcare revenue cycle management, suggests that health systems are optimistic about the potential of GenAI to improve revenue cycle performance. However, many remain in the early stages of adoption, even as they feel the financial impact of inaccurate or incomplete documentation. (AKASA)
10 VCs betting the most on healthcare AI agent startups. Funding for startups automating the administrative burdens of healthcare and assisting in care delivery and assessment nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025. (PitchBook)
DEAL NEWS
New Mountain Capital creating $30 billion health tech company
A Reuters story reports that Matt Holt, formerly managing director and head of private equity at New York City-based New Mountain Capital, is working on a deal to combine five of New Mountain's portfolio companies together into one entity. The five companies are Datavant, Swoop, Machinify, Smarter Technologies, and Office Ally. Several of these assets are themselves combinations of other companies (e.g., Smarter Technologies just was recently created by putting together Access Healthcare, Thoughtful.ai and SmarterDx).
New Mountain would reportedly reinvest $2 billion into the newco, and Holt is raising additional capital including potentially with Middle East funds and London-based ICG. In this deal scenario, New Mountain would return roughly $14 billion to its LPs.
Zelis announces acquisition of analytics company Rivet
Boston-based Zelis, a leading player in the healthcare B-B payments market, has acquired Rivet. Zelis plans for Rivet's AI-enabled revenue cycle analytics to help providers and payers with more transparency regarding claim payments and denial trends, fewer transactional inquiries, and higher first pass claim rate. Rivet has 30+ platform integrations including athenahealth, ModMed, AdvancedMD, Availity, and Clearwave. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Investors may launch Netsmart sales process in early 2026
Overland Park, KA-based Netsmart may be back on the market soon, after a first attempt to sell the company in 2024. Various sources including PE Hub report that owners GI Partners and TA Associates are looking to run a formal sales process for Netsmart. The company, which provides an integrated EMR, PM and rev cycle platform for behavioral health, LTC, home health and PT/ rehab providers, may fetch $4.5 to $5 billion based on estimated 2024 EBITDA of $250 million.
HPS/ PayMedix finalizes $33 million investment
Milwaukee, WI-based HPS/ PayMedix announced a $33 million investment to accelerate the growth of its healthcare financing and payments solution. HLM Investment Partners led a $16 million growth equity investment, with participation from Escalate Capital Partners, RVM Enterprises, and existing investor SV Health Investors. A new $17 million debt facility was provided by Escalate Capital Partners.
Austin, TX-based Truemed announced the close of its $34 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Long Journey Ventures, BoxGroup, and Trust Ventures. Truemed’s solution is focusing HSA benefits on tools for preventative health, and away from “reactive tools, used after people get sick”.
Tebra raises $250 million to build further AI capabilities
Newport Beach, CA-based Tebra closed on $250 million in equity and debt financing in December 2025 to accelerate investment in AI and automation. The equity round, which contributed the majority of funding, was led by Hildred Capital with participation from existing investors Toba Capital, Transformation Capital and HLM Venture Partners. JP Morgan provided a debt facility. Tebra said it will use the new funding to deploy AI-powered capabilities across electronic health records, billing and payments, patient experience and practice marketing. The company serves more than 140,000 private healthcare providers.
GTCR completes sale of Worldpay to Global Payments
Chicago-based GTCR announced on January 12 that it completed the previously announced sale of Worldpay, a global leader in merchant acquiring and payments processing, to Global Payments (NYSE: GPN). According to GTCR, the sale of Worldpay represents one of the largest strategic sales in the history of the private equity industry.
Why do businesses still use paper checks? Despite the growing availability of digital alternatives, businesses with less than $10 million in annual revenue continue to rely on checks for their outgoing payments. (Atlanta Fed)
A fragmented landscape of bespoke stablecoins will serve nobody. While building a proprietary system has clear economic advantages, the risks are high, and the chance of success is low and getting lower with each new self-contained system. (American Banker)
Credit cards have become a luxury good. Annual growth in credit card spending was around 5% in 2024; virtually all that growth is attributable to cardholders with prime and superprime credit scores. (Fintech Takes)
Conference List. Rolling twelve month look ahead at conferences and other events covering healthcare payments, revenue cycle, fintech and related areas. Updated through November 2026.
FMP Blog. Thoughts from healthcare payments CEOs and investors on their right to win and goals for the year ahead, as well as data and perspectives on healthcare payments.
Newsletter Archive. News, trends, and insights from the healthcare payments industry compiled in our bi-weekly newsletter. Last six months of newsletters.
Epic MyChart. Excel sheet with full listing of all Epic MyChart instances as of May 2024, categorized by state, provider type and specialty.
All of these resources can also be accessed at the FinMed Partners Insights page.
Faring thee well now Let your life proceed by its own designs Nothing to tell now Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine
FinMed Partners is a management consulting and advisory business focusing at the intersection of payments/ fintech and healthcare. Our founders have developed deep expertise from decades of experience with health IT companies, healthcare providers and many players within the payments ecosystem. Investors, boards and executive teams work with us to maximize business value through strategic input and tactical execution.
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