Why We Started Usher
We’ve seen both sides of the healthcare system.
We’ve spent hours on the phone with insurance companies, trying to get a prior authorization approved. We’ve sat in waiting rooms not knowing what questions to ask. We’ve searched for the right specialist and had no idea where to start. We’ve tried to schedule an appointment and been told the next opening is eight months away.
And we’ve watched our parents and grandparents go through worse. Trying to figure out whether they qualify for Medicaid. Navigating care after a cancer diagnosis. Managing medications for chronic conditions that kept changing. Dealing with dementia and the slow, overwhelming process of finding long-term care options. It can feel like drowning in the cost, complexity, and relentless stakes of navigating healthcare.
Many families we know have a version of this story.
We started Usher to give people the help they need and have it paid for through Medicare.
We’re recruiting and training healthcare navigators to find every benefit you’ve earned, handle the paperwork, go to appointments with you, coordinate across your doctors, fight with insurance on your behalf, and support the family members who are holding it all together.
What We’ve Built
Our team has built healthcare, software, government technology, and financial technology businesses with more than 1,000 employees and millions of end users.
We’ve helped start companies that get families better care for their children, help families enroll in Medicare, and enable family caregivers to get paid for the work they’re already doing. We’ve served on the board of an academic medical center.
We bring that experience to Usher — building the systems, tools, and training that let community health workers do this work at the quality and scale families deserve.
The Team
Miles Lasater
CEO
Miles previously co-founded Higher One, which served millions of students, and SeeClickFix which served hundreds of government clients. He has invested in dozens of early-stage companies including many in healthcare. He has taught at the Yale School of Management, served on the board of Yale New Haven Hospital, and serves on the board of a community organization with job training programs like phlebotomy.
Taylor Thompson
COO
Taylor previously co-founded PharmaSecure and Almanac, where he led growth. He consulted for impact investors including the MacArthur Foundation, served as board chair for impact metrics firm Vera Solutions, and was an Echoing Green fellow. After completing his MBA at Harvard, he worked as a research fellow with Clay Christensen and published on startups and technology strategy at Harvard Business Review.
Our Navigators
Our navigators aren’t reading from a script. They’re community health workers recruited from neighborhoods like the ones they serve — former caregivers, retirees, people who’ve managed chronic illness and navigated government programs in their own families. They speak your language, understand your situation, and won’t stop caring about you.
Every navigator is trained on the landscape of Medicare, Medicaid, and state benefits programs and supported by a clinical team for complex cases.
Find Out What Benefits You Qualify For
Many people qualify for $1,000s in annual health benefits they didn't know about. The screening takes 30 minutes and costs you nothing.