Washington Flipped. Healthcare Ripped.
Washington now has a different political map. Democrats are set to take both the house and senate. It means more gridlock through the end of President Trump’s term. While that changes the legislative battlefield it does nothing to make healthcare more affordable or put pressure on lower drug prices. What it does ensure is that patient portals will continue to work in isolation and not talk between themselves. When there's no crosstalk in patient portals things get missed and healthcare suffers, and patients suffer while prices keep chugging higher. Therein lies the problem. The lack of integration with Super Intelligence (SI) within the patient portals creates inefficiencies like data silos and fragmented patient records. DataMeds AI (NASDAQ: MEDS) has patented telemedicine solutions that fix the problems.
The investment opportunity is not “Democrats won, therefore buy everything with healthcare or AI in its description.” That is bumper-sticker analysis.
The more interesting thesis is that a political environment focused on healthcare affordability could increase attention on technologies that help insurers get more value from preventative healthcare management. We aren’t talking policy change because let's face it the voters decided gridlock was the best path forward, and AI is not an automatic winner. One of the things that came out of the exit polls is local resistance to data-center development. Without this computer the price of using AI is going to go up.The only way to counteract this rising cost of AI in healthcare is to get great efficiencies out of its use.
MEDS sits at this intersection where AI results in efficiency gains that are measurable. Its Health Lives Here appl/platform aims to connect patient engagement with telehealth, pharmacy services and testing. The company also incorporates EinsteinRx artificial intelligence and PharmacyChain technology into its platform strategy. The opportunity is keeping the GLP-1 patient connected to appropriate care after the prescription is taken.
From an investment perspective, the company has two catalysts that deserve a second look: canceling a potentially dilutive transaction while preserving key licenses, and onboarding an HMO if their memorandum of understanding turns into a definitive deal. That translates into two of the most beautiful words in an investor's vocabulary: recurring revenue. Yet recurring revenue is only part of the story. The real driver sitting quietly in the background is a patent portfolio built to power these deals as they scale.
Teladoc Makes the Patent Debate More Than a Marketing Gimmick
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) sells the medicines and commands the drug market. Its third-quarter revenue reached $24.4 billion, up 39%, with Mounjaro and Zepbound major drivers. U.S. Zepbound revenue alone reached $5.3 billion. On the digital side, Teladoc Health (NYSE: TDOC) commands the virtual footprint, generating roughly $2.4 billion in annual revenue while serving tens of millions of chronic-care members. Teladoc illustrates both the massive value of a connected digital health market. MEDS is competing in the same space as TDOC, but they have the patent protection of the patient management infrastructure that targets high-value treatments like weight loss and diabetes management.
On July 23, the Delaware federal court denied Teladoc’s third motion to dismiss in Data Health Partners v. Teladoc. The case concerns four asserted patents and alleged infringement involving Livongo’s diabetes-management platform and blood-glucose meter. The opinion discusses customized goals, biometric data, progress thresholds and automated communications. Those functions are central to the monitoring-and-intervention thesis. But surviving a pleading challenge is not a final infringement ruling. While the court did not award damages or establish that every telehealth competitor needs a license it has the potential to be a landmark case. Data Health Partners is the plaintiff which means MEDS is not automatically entitled to its litigation proceeds.
Investors are starting to notice that these monstrous weight loss apps like Hims & Hers (NYSE: HIMS), LifeMD (NASDAQ: LFMD), and Weight Watchers Med+ (NASDAQ: WW) have no real patent protection or defensible moat so they are only as good as the revenue they generate through marketing. This is where licensed and patented technology takes center stage for the conservative HMO’s looking to build a long term business that adds patient value versus just getting a sliver of the prescription. If those patent rights are upheld, MEDS gains a clear competitive moat. Its NFL Alumni “Health Lives Here” weight-loss platform stands out from the crowded market, providing the company with strong negotiating leverage as adoption grows into a strong operating moat.
The HMO Announcement Is the Commercial Test
The press release indicates MEDS signed an MOU with an unnamed Florida-based HMO expected to have 25,000–30,000 members in 2027. The proposed arrangement starts with GLP-1 patient management and contemplates Health Lives Here access for all members, with NFL Alumni Health supporting enrollment into the HMO.
Two key data points help investors build a simple model:
- A per-member-per-month fee for the app across the HMO’s membership.
- An additional GLP-1 patient-management program, with possible pharmacy, diagnostic-testing, and medical-food revenue.
This is an attractive structure because there is no client acquisition cost. Think about HIMS which spent over 42% on marketing last quarter. The MOU has not been turned into a definitive agreement so investors don’t really have any way to gauge the impact, but here are some historical guidelines and assumptions that help put into perspective how it generates recurring revenue.
Acquiring patient relationships in bulk through institutional partnerships is a far more compelling model than chasing them one by one through digital advertising. While these enterprise deals take longer to close, they carry significantly higher lifetime value due to the inherent stickiness of an HMO’s member base. If implemented successfully, MEDS could be setting the stage for a series of major closings. Given standard contract timelines, MEDS has likely been cultivating this HMO relationship for some time—yet the ink was barely dry on their latest patent additions before securing the deal. That rapid execution speaks directly to the inherent value of their IP and underscores the defensible moat they are building.
Definitive agreements are set for Q4, with a target rollout for first quarter 2027. If MEDS is able to finalize the agreement and then execute and start driving recurring revenue and helping improve patient outcomes it will have its proof of concept to leverage with the next HMO.
Consumers Want a Healthcare Home
There was a recent piece that did some detective work on the healthcare consumer. A report by Daisy Wold and Eva Steinman called “The State of Longevity” describes a race to build a healthcare home. They define it as one place connecting medical history, labs, wearable data and access to care. Its research included 500 randomly selected U.S. consumers. If that sounds like the Health Lives Here App then you see where this is going.
The survey data is striking and highlights just how timely MEDS' market position really is. According to the report, 71.4% of respondents would use an all-in-one health app, and nearly half (49.2%) would pay for it. That is exactly what the Health Lives Here platform delivers. Instead of forcing patients through a scavenger hunt across separate prescribing, pharmacy, lab, and monitoring tools—or making them manage ten different passwords to transfer records—the platform uses blockchain precision to let patient data follow them seamlessly.
As AI makes health answers cheaper, value shifts to companies that master this "action layer." Patients simply want their appointments booked and follow-ups scheduled automatically on their preferred calendar. By connecting app access directly with telehealth, pharmacy, and lab services, the proposed HMO deal proves that payers are actively seeking this level of integrated care for their members.
The Moat Has a Boundary Investors Must Read Fine Print
Payers may reasonably care about a vendor’s IP rights to deploy an app to its patient base. For an HMO, partnering with a licensed provider is simply good risk management. These conservative organizations want to ensure they won't wake up one morning to a legal challenge that forces them to yank an app their patients have come to rely on.
MEDS also recently canceled a transaction, significantly reducing potential share dilution. But investors should read the fine print: MEDS kept its exclusive REBOOT license for GLP-1 management. In short, they got to have their cake and eat it too. They secured a key license that arguably helped close the HMO deal, but with far less dilution along the way. There is no way to tell what element helped to ultimately close the deal, but the close proximity of getting the license and then closing the HMO deal may not be just a coincidence. If that is the case MEDS is beginning to validate this IP moat it's been showing prospective HMO customers.
Forzet Addresses the Question the Bathroom Scale Cannot
With the rise in GLP-1 use patients and providers are looking beyond the pounds lost and looking more at whether or not the weight loss improved the body composition. The platform thesis becomes more substantive when it looks beyond pounds lost. A study last year called SURMOUNT-1 was designed to measure the body composition of patients using tirzepatide. The results showed that approximately 75% of weight lost was fat and 25% was lean mass. The proportions were similar in the tirzepatide and placebo groups. That matters because it argues against casually describing lean-mass loss as a unique toxic effect of the drug but rather a caloric deficit.
Forzet supplies patients with a tangible product that opens the door for the MEDS platform to broaden its discussion beyond the initial product message. Initially it’s a medical food intended for the dietary management of muscle loss associated with weight-loss therapies. Forzet is available through the MEDS pharmacy-focused Corexa Health division and positioned the Health Lives Here app toward patients taking or considering GLP-1 medications. The synergy matters because muscle loss is a growing concern, and searching for solutions drives patients to Forzet and ultimately the app onboarding a new customer interested in the true telehealth proposition.
New patients may like the idea that they can get most of their healthcare needs met through the app and the ecosystem backing it up. If customers remain active across multiple services, MEDS could capture more revenue without paying again for every transaction.
NFL Football Advertising Shows Consumer Attention
EDO research reported by MediaPost found pharmaceutical ads during the 2025–26 NFL regular season were 104% more effective at driving measured consumer engagement than average pharmaceutical ads on prime-time broadcast and cable. Zepbound was the most effective pharmaceutical brand in that analysis, at 519% above the pharmaceutical-advertiser average.LLY also ran twelve corporate or awareness ads during the season, according to that report. Those are useful evidence of football’s relevance to healthcare marketing.
MEDS’ relationship with NFL Alumni Health addresses the other side of the business equation. The partnership connects the platform to patients dealing with chronic pain, orthopedic injuries and muscle-loss concerns associated with weight-loss therapy. Former players can introduce a health program through existing audiences and community relationships, while the 6,500-pharmacy network provides an additional physical patient touchpoint. That could be more efficient than paid digital advertising, though it is still a hypothesis needing measured results: registrations, paying patients, conversion rates and retention.
Now follow the breadcrumbs because MEDS’ proposed NFL Alumni Health engagement offers a different route to a football-connected audience. Additionally MEDS indicated in its HMO announcement that the NFL Alumni were going to supplement patients. The question is whether it produces engaged patients at an attractive acquisition cost.
Retatrutide Could Expand the Management Opportunity
Lilly’s October 28 head-to-head Phase 3 results give investors another reason to watch the treatment-management layer.
In adults with type 2 diabetes, retatrutide produced approximately 19.5%–20.9% weight loss at 80 weeks, compared with 9.4% for Ozempic 2 mg, using the reported efficacy estimate and discontinuations due to adverse events were higher in the retatrutide groups.Retatrutide remains investigational, not an imminent guaranteed commercial launch. Lilly has indicated plans to seek U.S. approval in early 2027.
If approved and widely adopted, another powerful metabolic therapy could broaden demand for appropriate patient selection, follow-up, and management. This represents significant upside for relevant infrastructure providers. MEDS NFL connection could put it in a preferred provider category which allows them to meet demand while its competitors try a bait and switch.
The Dilution Overhang Changed Market Dynamics
On November 3, MEDS terminated its second amended and restated LOI involving Datavault (NASDAQ: DVLT) and other counterparties. The company says it owes no termination fees or obligations and will issue no shares related to that LOI. The announcement explicitly preserves the specified REBOOT and existing PharmacyChain agreements.
That is a material change for anyone speculating around the proposed transaction’s share issuance.
MEDS was trading at $2.75 before the October 22 transaction announcement. Afterwards the stock fell sharply around the news and continued its slide to the $1.50 support. The shorts were clearly at work expecting a big dilutive issuance and continuing the pressure despite the removal of the overhang and the strong potential for recurring revenue streams to start.
It's not hard to see that the stock squeezed really hard in September with a September 16 (Peak Squeeze). It went ballistic intraday,making a 52-week high of $12.31 (up over 1,260% from its pre-squeeze baseline) before settling at $6.07 (+274.7% for the session) on massive volume of nearly 189 million shares despite an authorized share count of 3.18 million. At the peak it traded its OS nearly 60x during the day. Talk about price discovery. .
Given the Facts a Short Squeeze is Likely
The short thesis was heavily dependent on the potential of shares flooding the market in the future from the equity issuance. Now the shorts are pivoting and betting the company will not succeed in using their IP portfolio advantage to onboard more HMO’s. Not the smartest bet, but the shorts for all intents and purposes are trapped.
The more durable bull case rests on execution:
- Convert the nonbinding MOU into an enforceable agreement.
- Disclose pricing, billing eligibility, and implementation economics.
- Clarify payer-use rights under the surviving license.
- Demonstrate engagement, retention, and useful outcomes.
- Replicate the model with additional customers.
Washington has changed. Dilution was overturned. The healthcare problem remains.
If MEDS can monetize this election-friendly outcome into a licensed, repeatable, payer-funded business, investors may eventually evaluate it on operating economics rather than transaction anxiety.