About Dave Chase
Dave Chase is on a mission to restore hope, health, and economic wellbeing to communities through healthcare transformation. As creator of the community-owned health plan (COHP) model, he is building a nationwide movement that turns health plans from drivers of wage stagnation into vessels for wellbeing and wealth creation.
Current Focus & Impact:
As founder of Health Rosetta, Dave has helped transform healthcare for thousands of employers covering 5+ million Americans. What began with identifying just 5 successful health plans nationwide has grown into a movement with thousands of sustainable successes that deliver superior care at 20-50% lower costs.
In 2024, his team launched Nautilus Health Institute, catalyzed with $4M in Health Rosetta intellectual property and investment. Nautilus provides open-source standards, contracting templates, and technology infrastructure (including METL, an open-source healthcare data platform) that establish new market norms benefiting employers, clinicians, and communities.
Industry Recognition:
Dave’s work in healthcare transformation has reached over 10 million people through bestselling books (“CEO’s Guide to Restoring the American Dream,” “Opioid Crisis Wake-up Call,” “Relocalizing Health”), media, TED talks, and TV/film appearances. He has received the World Health Care Congress’ Lifetime Achievement Award for Health Benefits Innovation.
Background & Experience:
Before Health Rosetta, Dave led Microsoft’s $30B healthcare ecosystem, co-founded Avado (acquired by WebMD/Medscape), and began his career as an Accenture management consultant to health systems. This diverse experience informs his unique perspective on transforming healthcare.
Beyond Work:
Dave has coached multiple high school track and cross country individuals & teams to state championships and a national champion. He was a Division I 800 meter and 4×400 competitor at the University of Washington. His faith, family, and community underpin his commitment to servant leadership.
Speaking & Collaboration:
After a break from the speaking circuit, Dave is now available for select speaking engagements to share insights on healthcare transformation, community-owned health plans, and how organizations can build sustainable, high-performing health benefits. Connect with him for compelling keynotes on creating lasting and meaningful healthcare change.
Dave is dedicated to transforming healthcare through transparency, community ownership, and proven solutions that restore the American Dream.
About Health Rosetta
Health Rosetta is an ecosystem for replicating adoption of practical non-partisan fixes to our health care system. The Health Rosetta framework enables public and private employers and unions to reduce their health benefits spending by 20% or more while improving the quality of care for plan members. We’re building the LEED ecosystem for purchasing and delivering high performance health care benefits and services.
Medical Travel & Digital Health News (MTDHN): Please tell us about Health Rosetta and what it is.
Dave Chase (DC): Health Rosetta is actually a few things. It’s a blueprint on how to build world-class health plans that have the cost. Then, we have an ecosystem of benefit brokers and advisors who we train, accredit and equip with tools as they go out to employers. Once a year, we gather at an event called RosettaFest, which we just held this past summer, with around 1,300 attendees spanning industry silos including clinicians, brokers, employers and tech companies. This ecosystem is what’s creating this new healthcare economy.
We also have a technology-enabled service to make it easier to do all this.
We found that there were plenty of tools for the traditional system but not for this new approach, so we built our own. Since launching about eight years ago, we’ve developed a platform to handle compliance and turn what used to be a burden for employers into a competitive advantage.
MTDHN: How often do you meet?
DC: Normally, we have a virtual meeting once a month and one in-person gathering each year, plus ad hoc collaboration via Slack and LinkedIn. For those using our tools, communication happens naturally, sometimes several times a day.
MTDHN: What are the latest trends among brokers serving the employer community?
DC: The biggest one is the fiduciary movement. Experts say it’s the biggest change in employee health benefits law since 1943. It has a big implication. If you look at what happened on the other half of ERISA with retirement benefits 15 years earlier, there has been massive a transformation since then.
Some class action suits have already begun, similar to what happened with retirement benefits years ago.
Another key trend is direct primary care. Proper primary care is the backbone of every well-functioning healthcare system. More employers now have access to these options, not just large corporations. Even in my small town in Washington, we’ve seen new DPC practices emerge.
Finally, there’s the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) space. The “good news,” ironically, is that the challenges in this space are so bad that they’re easy to improve. Fixing PBMs often frees up funds for better primary care. Good medications are affordable and should be accessible. Half of people not filling prescriptions (due to cost) is unacceptable.
MTDHN: What are your thoughts on programs like TrumpRx?
DC: The White House is great at media, but we focus on what employers can implement today to cut costs by 30–50%. Mark Cuban’s initiative is valuable for awareness, but similar work has been happening for years. The real issue is designing the right contracts and eliminating unnecessary deductibles.
MTDHN: Who are your members? Are they large or small companies?
DC: Our members are mostly mid-market employers, about 60 to 65 percent of the U.S. workforce. That’s typically companies with 50 to 5,000 employees, though we work with clients as small as five employees and as large as 200,000.
We also have benefit advisors –mostly regional independents, many of whom left large firms because they wanted to deliver real value. We have people from major brokerages like Marsh and Gallagher, but what matters is the individual’s philosophy. The smaller firms are often “all in” on the Rosetta approach.
MTDHN: Tell me more about the Health Rosetta plan.
DC: The brokers own the client relationship, and we’re the behind-the-scenes coach. Our biggest investment has been in rewriting legal documents, contracts with TPAs, PBMs and primary care providers. That’s where real change begins.
We’ve spent seven figures developing these templates, which our 250 plus accredited advisors use to serve roughly 5 million people. We focus on procurement methodology, contracting, anddata transparency – the core cycle of repeatable, verifiable success.
When we launched publicly eight years ago, there were only a handful of success stories. Now, there are thousands nationwide – urban and rural, large and small, and public and private – all sustained for five years or more.
MTDHN: How do tools like ICHRA fit in?
DC: It depends on implementation. They can be useful, but the only real way to reduce costs is to pay less for healthcare. These are tools, not solutions in themselves.
MTDHN: How has the broker’s role evolved?
DC: From salesperson to true consultant. A real consultant, like a lawyer or accountant, is transparent, accountable and well-compensated for value delivered. That’s the transformation happening in our field.
MTDHN: How can vendors or partners work with Rosetta?
DC: Many attend Rosetta Fest to understand the ecosystem. We’re decentralized, success happens locally, then scales. Vendors can start by connecting with advisors listed here.
We also recognize outstanding plans and partners through our Rosie Awards, inspired by Rosie the Riveter. Fun fact, last year I met one of the original Rosies, now over 100 years old, still attending events. That’s the spirit we honor.
MTDHN: Is there anything else on the market like Rosetta?
DC: Not really. Some programs coach individual brokers, but we combine a blueprint, training ecosystem and tech platform. The independent nonprofit we catalyzed, Nautilus Health Institute, open-sources our most proven intellectual property, millions of dollars’ worth of contracting and tech tools, after thorough testing with employers. It’s the opposite of the secrecy that dominates healthcare. If you want to change the industry, you have to open-source it.