Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t worry, we’ve seen it all. Please just take a deep breath and answer as honestly as you can. Nearly everybody has ‘health stuff’—in fact, those who don’t are outliers! 

Honest answers make sure we can trust the Ionava model to work for you. Bear in mind, we do check the information you provide against existing medical records to make sure we capture any unintended errors or omissions. (See Material Omission Definition.)

If/when we notice discrepancies, we’ll offer you the opportunity to adjust either your subscription costs or your Vault size, prior to locking in your Vault. In rare cases, when omitted information falls outside of our current capacity for risk, we will cancel your Vault retroactively and refund any unused subscription costs, minus a small processing fee. In such cases, we’ll provide you with clear guidance on what caused the cancellation and next steps.

At Ionava, we always handle personal health information with 100% confidentiality and anything you share is subject to strict HIPAA protocols. We only ask information that we need to know in the Onboarding process in order to properly assess your risk, so we can keep you and everyone at Ionava more safe.

All sensitive information is protected using the same level of security trusted by major banks and enterprise companies. Health data is collected through HIPAA-compliant systems, including Typeform Enterprise, which is built specifically to handle sensitive medical information. Your data is stored securely with trusted partners like Salesforce, while identity and payment details are handled through Plaid, the same technology used by leading financial institutions. Access is tightly limited, and your personal information is never sold or shared beyond what’s needed to run Ionava safely.

Ionava isn’t health insurance because it’s structured entirely differently. There are no EOBs, prior authorizations, or third parties deciding what your care costs—and you decide how, where and when to spend your Wallet funds. Better still, Ionava actually rewards you financially for being and staying healthy by adding money to your Wallet. These and many other structural differences place Ionava in a different category altogether.

Ionava is a unique financial platform built to support optimal health. It combines a Wallet (which you can use for everyday wellness or care) with a Vault (cash reserves to pay up front if a truly serious medical issue arises). Unused Wallet funds earn interest, and you can grow your Wallet interest rate by improving your Health Score. Ionava’s robust [coming soon] Marketplace will feature health and wellness goods and services providers across the full range of high quality options for care. You can use your Wallet in the Marketplace and earn rewards for doing so. This creates a full circle, flywheel effect where your proactive self-care actually improves your finances, for the win-win.

By ‘Big What-Ifs’, we mean Terminal, Critical, or Chronic health events that are both clinically significant and financially disruptive. Ionava uses established life-risk frameworks as certified by your own physician to define this criteria, not subjective judgments or ongoing approvals. Your everyday health issues and truly serious medical events are treated intentionally differently. See our Major health event definitions here.

Because most healthy people spend far too much on a cumbersome system they rarely use. Ionava is designed for people who want more control, more flexibility, and a clearer relationship between what they pay and what they actually use—without pretending risk doesn’t exist.

Virtually anything that supports health or wellbeing. This includes traditional medical care, preventive services, mental health, fitness, supplements, longevity, and wellness—often things insurance and HSAs don’t meaningfully support. It’s your choice, and your terms.

You do. Ionava doesn’t approve or deny care, define medical necessity, or manage providers. We provide your Wallet liquidity—you decide how to use it.

That’s what the Vault is designed for. If you experience a defined Major health event, your reserved liquidity becomes accessible to help you navigate that moment with flexibility and choice. The goal is preparedness without day-to-day restriction.

Ionava relies on well-established definitions already widely used in life-risk modeling to describe Terminal, Critical, and Chronic illnesses as Major health events (a.k.a., the ‘Big What-Ifs’). Such standards have existed for decades and are grounded in actuarial data, not ad-hoc decisions. We’re transparent when it comes to the criteria for these terms, and your own physician is the one who determines whether you qualify for the conditions.

First, many major services cost far less at cash rates than people assume. We encourage you to contact your physician to discuss direct-pay models and explore this for yourself. There are also numerous cost calculators online which you can use to research your personal healthcare decisions. Second, Ionava doesn’t lock you into a single approach—you retain full optionality, including layering or returning to traditional insurance if that’s right for you.

The risk science behind Ionava has existed for decades. What’s new is bringing that intelligence, with the help of cutting-edge technology, directly to benefit individuals instead of burying it inside opaque, institution-controlled products.

Part of it funds your Wallet—money you actively get to use. Part of it supports the pooled risk reserves behind Vaults. The structure is intentionally simple and transparent.

Your individual subscription price options (per Vault) will be available to you after you get your health score and go into the platform to choose a Vault size.

Funds are managed through Ionava’s financial infrastructure with clear separation between Wallet balances and pooled Vault liquidity. The design prioritizes clarity and accountability, not complexity.

No. Ionava just wants to give people a smarter way to manage health and money without waiting for insurers or policymakers to change.

You absolutely can. Many people use Ionava alongside traditional insurance, especially since it supports so many other expenses that insurance ignores. This isn’t a binary decision—it’s about building the right strategy for you.

Ionava is designed for people who are generally healthy, proactive, and ready to take ownership of their health decisions. Eligibility is intentional—that’s how the model stays sustainable and fair as it scales.

Because we don’t want your health strategy tied to political uncertainty. Ionava works perfectly well without subsidies, which creates stability for users regardless of policy changes.

We’re starting with Vaults for individuals by design. Family and employer structures are on the roadmap, but providing individual Vaults is Ionava’s first priority.

Ionava supports a world where people have the money and freedom to take care of their health, and those offering health or wellness goods and services connect directly with those who need care. Ionava is about clarity, sovereignty, and aligning incentives so that costs drive down, value improves, and healthy behavior actually pays off in numerous ways.

Choosing a Vault size boils down to very personal decisions, including your budget, your own risk tolerance, and your individual comfort zone. We recommend choosing the highest level of Vault coverage that you can reasonably afford to keep in place long-term. 

Your individual subscription price options will be available to you after you get your health score and go into the platform to choose a Vault size. 

It means working directly with engaged patients who pay you cash rates directly with their own funds, and without insurance friction. You set your rates transparently and get paid fair value for your time—no middle men or third-party billing services needed. In this way, Providers keep full autonomy while benefiting from clearer pricing, fewer administrative burdens, and patients who value transparency in outcomes.

Cash pricing already exists; most people just haven’t been taught to ask for it. Start with simple, direct question: what is your cash pay rate? Many providers prefer cash because it removes complexity. You can use Wallet and Vault funds  anywhere that accepts U.S. dollars (not just in the U.S., and not just in the Ionava Marketplace).