Former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Andy Slavitt announced this week the launch of a new healthcare startup, Town Hall Ventures, focused on healthcare innovations targeting vulnerable patient populations. Slavitt has consistently pushed for focus on underserved populations, highlighting cost-inflating aspects of social determinants of health.

“If you have two different people with the same disease, it costs a lot more to take care of someone if they have housing insecurity, food insecurities, if they don’t have access to transportation to pick up their medications,” he said at the Medicaid Forum earlier this year in San Francisco. “And as a result, if they show up in ER after they haven’t taken their medication, you have to manage back a situation that’s much more challenging.”

Further reporting from MedCity News’ Stephanie Baum here.