{"id":279423,"date":"2026-05-21T12:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/279423\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T12:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:51:09","slug":"housing-became-a-healthcare-problem-so-upside-built-a-business-around-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/279423\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing became a healthcare problem, so Upside built a business around it"},"content":{"rendered":"

A missed rent payment does not usually sound like a healthcare issue. Neither does an aging parent struggling to climb the stairs in a two-story home, or someone sleeping on a friend\u2019s couch after losing a job. But for Upside<\/a> (FKA UpsideH\u014dM<\/a>), those moments often sit at the center of rising medical costs and poor healthcare outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were a totally different business back when we launched,\u201d founder and CEO Jake Rothstein told Refresh Miami.<\/p>\n

Upside first emerged from Rothstein\u2019s own family experience. After his grandfather moved into senior living, his grandmother was left alone in a home that no longer made sense financially or physically. The family relocated her into a rental apartment better suited to her needs, sparking the idea for a platform focused on helping older adults find stable housing and support.<\/p>\n

At first, the company sold directly to consumers. But Rothstein and co-founder\/COO Peter Badgley believed there was a bigger opportunity: convincing healthcare organizations that housing instability was driving major medical costs.<\/p>\n

By 2024, Upside began pitching insurers on that idea. The company argued that stable housing could reduce ER visits, shorten hospital stays, and improve medication adherence. One of the country\u2019s largest insurers decided to test the model in Virginia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started getting referrals very quickly,\u201d Rothstein said. \u201cWithin three months, we were housing people at a rate that these health plans had never seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n

That pilot quickly expanded into a relationship spanning 22 states. Rothstein said the company grew around 2,000% in 2025, scaling from nine employees to 65.<\/p>\n

How did they grow that fast? \u201cIt\u2019s a lot about timing, luck, and persistence,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can call it a \u2018don\u2019t-die\u2019 attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2713<\/p>\n

Check your inbox for a confirmation email.<\/p>\n

Rothstein described \u201chousing instability\u201d as a spectrum that includes people experiencing homelessness, workers who fell behind on rent after losing a job, and families trapped in unsafe living situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re sleeping tomorrow night, you don\u2019t care about going to see your primary care doctor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

AI has also become a major operational advantage for the business. While Upside still relies heavily on humans to build trust with vulnerable users, many administrative tasks are now automated behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are things that case managers months ago would have to do on their own,\u201d Rothstein said. \u201cNow they\u2019re able to do so much of this heavy lifting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company has not raised outside funding since 2022, though Rothstein said new fundraising discussions are underway. Upside is also preparing to expand beyond Medicaid and Medicare into employer-sponsored healthcare, targeting large self-insured companies.<\/p>\n

South Florida remains the company\u2019s home base, with offices in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to build this tech ecosystem,\u201d Rothstein said. \u201cWe want to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured above: Left to right, Upside Co-founders Jake Rothstein, CEO, and Peter Badgley, COO. <\/p>\n

READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:<\/p>\n

\"Riley<\/a> <\/p>\n

I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.<\/p>\n

\"Riley<\/a>Latest posts by Riley Kaminer (see all<\/a>) \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A missed rent payment does not usually sound like a healthcare issue. Neither does an aging parent struggling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-279423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}