About Verd

We are building the definitive insurance optimization platform — applying federal-grade analytical rigor to a decision that affects every American household, every year.

MEPS / CMSAnalysis EngineOptimized
Built on federal data — MEPS · CMS · IRS · USPSTFFounded by healthcare policy expertsNo commissions, no carrier partnerships

Our Story

Verd grew out of the founding team's healthcare policy background — years spent inside the federal policy apparatus, advising on healthcare legislation, building cost-benefit analyses for Senate offices, and working directly with the datasets that underpin America's insurance infrastructure. The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. CMS actuarial tables. IRS subsidy formulas. These aren't abstract references. They're the tools we used daily to evaluate policy proposals worth billions.

On Capitol Hill, every proposed change to the ACA or Medicare required rigorous scenario modeling. We ran distributional impact analyses, projected out-of-pocket cost curves across demographic cohorts, and stress-tested policy assumptions against historical claims data. The analytical frameworks were sophisticated, the data was authoritative, and the stakes were enormous.

But here was the contradiction: the same federal government that uses Monte Carlo simulation and actuarial modeling to evaluate insurance policy expects individual Americans to choose their own coverage by comparing four-page plan summaries during a 45-day enrollment window. The tools exist. The data exists. The methodology exists. It simply was never made available to the people who need it most.

Verd closes that gap. We took the exact analytical frameworks that inform federal healthcare policy and rebuilt them for individual households. No spreadsheets. No guesswork. No insurance brokers with misaligned incentives. Just the same data-driven clarity that policymakers rely on, made accessible to everyone.

Why You Can Trust Us

In this industry, trust has to be structural — not promised. Three commitments are built into how Verd works.

No commissions. No carrier partnerships.

We take no money from insurers, earn nothing when you enroll, and hold no carrier appointments. When a plan ranks first in your results, it is because the math says so — there is no other reason for it to be there.

Federal data provenance.

Every recommendation traces back to public federal sources — MEPS utilization microdata, CMS plan and formulary files, IRS subsidy parameters, and USPSTF guidelines. The same evidence base used by CBO and HHS, not proprietary industry data.

Your data stays yours.

We never sell your information to insurers, brokers, or advertisers — and we never will. Your health profile exists for one purpose: powering your own analysis.

4Federal Data Sources
50-StateMarketplace Coverage
12Insurance Programs Analyzed
FreeCore Optimization

Mission & Values

We believe no one should overpay for health insurance because the system is too complex to navigate. Every decision we make is guided by four commitments.

Data Over Assumptions

Every recommendation is built on real federal data — MEPS utilization patterns, CMS actuarial tables, and IRS subsidy formulas. We never estimate when we can calculate. We never assume when we can measure.

Radical Transparency

Every recommendation shows its math. You see the premium projections, the expected out-of-pocket costs by scenario, the medication pricing breakdowns. If we recommend a plan, you know exactly why.

Universal Accessibility

Core plan optimization is free — permanently. The same analytical rigor available to federal policy offices should be available to a single parent in rural Ohio comparing marketplace plans at midnight.

Privacy by Design

Your health data never leaves your control. We never sell information to insurers, brokers, or advertisers. Our revenue comes from the value we provide to you, not from monetizing your medical profile.

How We Think

Insurance optimization is not a recommendation problem. It is a modeling problem. Here is how we approach it.

01

Monte Carlo Simulation

A single “expected cost” figure hides enormous variance. A plan that looks cheapest on average may be catastrophically expensive in a bad year. We run thousands of simulated health scenarios for your specific profile — varying utilization, timing, and severity — to produce a full cost distribution, not a single point estimate. This is the same technique used in federal budget scoring.

02

MEPS-Calibrated Utilization

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey is the gold standard for healthcare utilization data in the United States, maintained by AHRQ with over 30,000 respondent households. We use MEPS microdata to calibrate expected utilization by age, sex, chronic condition profile, and geographic region — ensuring our projections reflect real-world healthcare consumption patterns, not industry averages.

03

Actuarial Cost Modeling

We model every component of plan cost independently: premiums, deductibles, copays, coinsurance, out-of-pocket maximums, HSA tax advantages, and drug formulary tiers. Each interacts differently depending on your utilization scenario. Our engine resolves these interactions for every plan in your market, producing true total-cost projections that account for structure, not just sticker price.

04

Subsidy & Tax Optimization

ACA premium tax credits, HSA contribution limits, and cost-sharing reductions create a complex incentive landscape. A plan that appears expensive before subsidies may be the cheapest after them. We model the full tax-adjusted cost surface, including income-based subsidy cliffs and HSA tax sheltering, to find the true optimal plan for your financial situation.

Our Journey

November 2025

Early Partnerships

Established partnerships with healthcare policy organizations and began data integration work.

December 2025

Policy Discussions

Engaged with federal policy stakeholders on consumer insurance optimization methodology.

January 2026

Whitepaper Release

Published methodology whitepaper detailing our Monte Carlo simulation approach to plan optimization.

February 2026

Pro Tier Launch

Launched Verd Pro with advanced scenario modeling, medication cost tracking, and year-round deductible monitoring.

March 2026

Platform Launch

Full public launch of the Verd platform with 50-state marketplace coverage and free core optimization.

Who's Building This

Verd is founder-led and growing deliberately. We hire for domain expertise, not headcount.

AS

Alex Schunk

Founder & CEO

Healthcare policy background with experience advising on federal legislation and regulatory analysis. Built cost-benefit frameworks for Senate offices and federal agencies before founding Verd to bring the same analytical rigor to individual insurance decisions.

Growing Our Team

Engineering & Data Science

We're actively building our engineering and data science team. If you're passionate about healthcare, data, and building tools that matter — reach out through our contact form.

Growing Our Team

Policy & Operations

We're looking for people who understand healthcare policy from the inside — enrollment systems, regulatory frameworks, and the real-world impact of plan design. Reach out through our contact form.

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