Highlights
All about how investing in the US Community Wellness Project, while aiding in the noble cause to fight Covid could also benefit aspiring US immigrants seeking a green card through the EB-5 Direct Programme
One of the most popular ways to obtain a green card under the US EB-5 programme at the moment, is the EB-5 Direct Programme, following the suspension of the Regional Center Programme after it expired on June 30. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is no longer accepting any applications under the Regional Center Programme unless and until the programme is reauthorised. Although the prospective date of reauthorisation has been delayed until December 3, there is no confirmation yet that the anticipated reauthorisation will actually occur. Meanwhile, the EB-5 Direct Programme still allows investors to invest directly with a US entity or project today to obtain a green card for the investor, the investor’s spouse, and investor’s children under the age of 21.
In addition to the exclusive availability of the EB-5 Direct Programme, the price of an EB-5 green card has now been temporarily decreased to $500,000. This limited time only price change is now under appeal by the USCIS to return to the pre-June price of $900,000, and once the Regional Center programme is reauthorised, it is likely that the price of the EB-5 Programme will increase. If the price of an EB-5 Direct programme is important to an investor, avoiding the price hike requires taking the steps necessary to prepare for a successful EB-5 Direct petition now.
Since the EB-5 Direct Programme has just started ramping up in popularity, the options in the marketplace for financially secure, stable business model projects are limited. Outside of food and beverage franchises, it can be a challenge to identify projects that have a worthy cause and are large enough to scale employment as required by the EB-5 Direct Programme. It is also important to take into account the management team behind the company in which you are investing.
Many people ask whether EB-5 Direct Projects differ from Regional Center projects in terms of risk. The answer is there are good projects in both the EB-5 Direct and Regional Center Programmes. With Regional Center Programmes suspended, choosing the right EB-5 Direct project based on due diligence, management team, experience, business plan, and legal documents is critical to a successful EB-5 petition.
The EB-5 direct investment opportunity
Community Wellness is a healthcare tech project founded in 2019 by highly experienced Silicon Valley executives. The project uses Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) technology to track the data of patients from a centralized location so that patients do not have to physically visit the clinic. The cost of appointments is covered by Medicare, the US government health insurance programme for people over the age of 65. As an authorized Medicare solution, Community Wellness’s RPM service enjoys predictable and secure income.
With the onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020, the need for healthcare and telehealth related services has skyrocketed. Furthermore, almost 25 per cent of Covid patients will develop long-term effects of the disease. Known as long haul Covid, over 9 million US citizens will qualify for RPM services while suffering these lingering effects, which can include long-term respiratory issues, gastro-intestinal issues, and fatigue.
As a result, this particular project is timely, relevant and has been backed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky to expand the state and region’s healthcare infrastructure to provide critical telehealth care services to patients. Because of the project’s importance to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the region and the federal healthcare system, it will qualify for expedited processing, allowing EB-5 investors to obtain a green card within 12 months rather than the average 24 to 36 month time frame.
Community Wellness is an industry leader in developing comprehensive and fully integrated Remote Patient Monitoring and behavioural health solutions for chronic condition management and preventative health measures. This advanced telehealth offering reduces emergency room visits, hospital readmissions and chronic disease condition outcomes. By supporting patients with chronic conditions and substance use disorder challenges, the company improves health outcomes and access to healthcare while reducing delivery costs.
Community Wellness has signed contracts with the Kentucky Hospital Association (a group of 126 hospitals representing 920,000 Medicare members) and affiliated hospitals to serve Medicare patients throughout the state and region. The Community Wellness Kentucky Remote Patient Monitoring Center will hire an anticipated 397 full-time employees by the end of 2023.
These employees will be credentialed healthcare providers to perform monthly telehealth visits as prescribed by patients’ physicians and Medicare.
The Silicon-Valley-based leadership team at Community Wellness has experience scaling technology companies. Zoe Fields, Co-Founder and CEO, previously led referral marketing and online community building for non-profit partner universities at HotChalk, Inc., a leading provider of online student life cycle management services. HotChalk was acquired in 2015 by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann.
Edward Fields, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, grew HotChalk from 17 employees to more than 2,300 in 5 years, having spent more than 20 years in the educational technology and enterprise software space before co-founding Community Wellness.
Dr Scott Parazynski is the Chief Medical Officer for the project. He is a former NASA astronaut with extensive background in telemedicine applications, from spaceflight to support to the US Antarctic Programme.
Choosing the right EB-5 direct team
Outside of having a stellar team looking after your EB-5 investment, it is also important to work with an experienced immigration team. Step Global is a leader in the US EB-5 Programme with over 12 years of experience in the industry and filings of hundreds of applications across the Middle East, India, and Africa.
We also have 100 per cent track record of approvals, which is credited to our partners, both attorneys and the exclusive projects we choose to work with which have strong reputations and skills sets. We encourage you to contact us today for a free consultation.
