NOCD raised $33 million to bring OCD treatment online

Hello,

Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer, and today in healthcare news:

• More startup funding news, as we reported exclusively that NOCD has raised $33 million for its approach to online OCD treatment;
• Verily has a secret plan to disentangle itself from Google's technology as it looks toward the future;
• Our politics team looked at Congress' vaccine approach, where members of Congress decide whether to enact a mandate for staff.

If you're new to this newsletter, sign up here. Comments, tips? Email me at lramsey@insider.com or tweet @lydiaramsey125. Let's get to it...

NOCD just raised $33 million to bring OCD treatment online as mental-health startups look to break through a crowded field

• NOCD raised $33 million to offer online therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• NOCD's therapists specialize in OCD and exposure treatment, and the company partners with payers.
• Analysts expect more telehealth companies to specialize in specific conditions.

Get the full scoop here>>

Alphabet life-sciences unit Verily is pursuing a secret plan to untangle itself from Google as it readies for a potential IPO

• Verily wants to untangle itself from Google's technology and prepare for a future beyond Alphabet.
• The project is internally called Flywheel and kicked off earlier this year.
• Verily aims to get "fully on public tools and services," according to presentation seen by Insider.

Check it out>>

Inside Congress' patchwork vaccine approach where some staffers are wary of sharing cafeterias, bathrooms, and staircases with unvaccinated colleagues

• Each member of Congress gets to decide whether to force their workers to get the COVID vaccine.
• The vaccine remains the most effective way to prevent serious illness and death from COVID-19.
• A document for House members guides them on how to make the vaccine mandatory if they want to.

Find out more>>

More stories we're reading:

• A COVID-19 booster shot that could protect against multiple variants at once is being tested in humans for the first time (Insider)
• Apple is working on an iPhone feature that could help detect depression and cognitive decline (The Wall Street Journal)
• 4 leading public-health experts describe what it would take for them to fully return to normal life (Insider)
• After their baby died in the hospital, they got caught in the middle of a payments dispute and received a $257,000 bill (The New York Times)

- Lydia