Wellness Now, Pay Later. The Butterfly Effect Is Real.
BNPL Is Gen Z’s Health Insurance Now
Founder Journey: The Butterfly Effect
The butterfly effect is trending right now. Not the science, but the metaphor. Not the meteorology, but the poetry of it. Gen Z took a theory from chaos math and made it emotional. Personal. Aesthetic. Now it's less "tornado in Texas," more "my entire life changed because I said no to a job in San Francisco."
I said no to a job in San Francisco.
Consulting. Performance Improvement. All the right nouns for a girl who studied accounting. A steady ladder. The good LinkedIn kind. But I didn't want it. Not because I had something better. It was just something louder in me that said that I wasn't ready to give my twenties to a swivel chair.
So I left the map. Fell off it, really. And the butterfly flapped.
From that tiny no came a thousand chaotic yeses. I started a nonprofit with my sister, addressing period poverty for displaced women in conflict zones because "feminine hygiene" is not a luxury, and war doesn't care if you're menstruating. Built an MVP. Failed at other ventures too and that's important. Some ideas should die so better ones can be born. I'm in the midst of figuring out vibe marketing (like vibe coding, but with more AI agents).
I moved through 53 countries, not collecting passport stamps but collecting market insights. I learned Mandarin with North Koreans in China. Disappeared in Morocco, building the country's first-ever girls skate crew with a teenage founder who inspires more than anyone twice my age. That pattern recognition you can't get from an MBB deck.
I spoke at a university in Uzbekistan about women’s health in the Islamic context. I didn't know what I was doing there, but somehow they did. I said yes. That's been the theme. Because unconventional paths reveal unconventional opportunities.
And somewhere along the way, I realized my real work wasn't business or storytelling or even travel. It was every woman. It was protecting our bodies. It was building systems that see us, fund us, and believe us. Women's health isn't some spin-off category. It's not a boutique lane on the freeway of innovation. It is the freeway. Every major system—education, policy, economics, peacekeeping—leans on the quiet, unpaid, usually invisible labor of women being well enough to hold it together. You don't build the future and then decide it's time to loop women in. You start there. You always should have.
So here I am. Not in a corner office in SF, but building pattern recognition that most traditional paths never develop. It doesn't follow conventional metrics, but it's taught me to spot markets others miss and founders others overlook.
That's the butterfly effect. Not just a trend, but a quiet miracle. A theory that says small choices can spiral into entire destinies. The best investments often come from the roads not taken.
And all it takes is a no. Or a thousand other yeses ;)
All Things Femtech will be in Europe in June/July.
If you’re in these cities building something in women’s health, I’d love to hear about what you’re working on.
(In chronological order)
Germany: Stuttgart, Berlin, Munich
France: Paris
Netherlands: Amsterdam
Austria: Vienna
Gen Z Decode: Welcome to Healthcare’s BNPL Era
You’ve probably been hearing about 60% of Coachelle tickets being purchased through Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) or how Chipotle burritos have been financed through Klarna. Pretty insane, right? The health and wellness industry is no exception. While industry reports celebrate BNPL as making health "more accessible," the reality is more complex.
What’s Fueling BNPL?
Inflation & Healthcare Costs Rising prices and stagnant wages have made even essentials unaffordable. In one survey, 33% of Gen Z BNPL users reported using it for groceries. Healthcare costs jumped 7.5% last year and are projected to keep rising, far outpacing wage growth. Even with insurance, Gen Z faces high deductibles and surprise bills. Nearly two-thirds avoided medical appointments due to cost.
As healthcare costs rise faster than wages, younger patients (especially Gen Z) turn to payment plans not for convenience, but to cope with unexpected medical debt.
Cultural Wellness Obsession Gen Z spends more on wellness than older generations. They're exposed daily to FitTok trends and mental health discourse. Openness about mental health has made BNPL a natural fit for their spending habits. It enables impulsive health and self-care purchases like therapy, supplements, or fitness apps without upfront cost, often as a coping mechanism. With many underinsured and facing high out-of-pocket expenses, BNPL becomes both a budgeting tool and emotional support system. Startups like Walnut report that over half their health-related loan applications are for mental health services, underscoring just how deeply cultural and psychological drivers are shaping Gen Z’s use of BNPL for well-being.
Credit Aversion + BNPL Simplicity Gen Z doesn’t trust credit cards rather a lack of financial literacy around them. BNPL offers transparent, fixed payments with no interest if paid on time. It feels more like budgeting than debt. Fast, frictionless approval fits Gen Z’s digital expectations. 62% have now used BNPL, and most are repeat users.
Insurance System Failures Perhaps the most damning aspect of Gen Z's BNPL health spending is what it reveals about American healthcare's structural inadequacies. High-deductible health plans, which have become standard for young workers, often mean that routine care becomes an out-of-pocket expense until thousands of dollars in medical costs accumulate. Mental health coverage remains particularly byzantine, with long waitlists, limited provider networks, and coverage gaps that force young adults to seek alternatives in the direct-pay market.
The result is a generation that has learned to navigate around traditional healthcare financing, using consumer credit tools to access preventive and mental health services that should be covered by insurance. When therapy sessions, hormone testing, and even prescription medications become BNPL purchases, it signals a healthcare system that has fundamentally failed its youngest adult consumers, forcing them to improvise financial solutions for basic health needs.
Deconstructing Gen Z's Health Spending Psychology
I previously wrote about the different consumer classes of Gen Z and the aspirational middle but BNPL in health reveals markets within Gen Z, each with different motivations, risk profiles, and lifetime value potential. Gen Z uses BNPL for health and wellness spending across income levels, but the behavior is driven more by financial constraints mixed with wellness prioritization than by distinct wealth segments. Most users exhibit hybrid behaviors rather than fitting cleanly into categories.
1. The Wellness Prioritizers (Largest Group - ~60%)
BNPL Usage: Strategic health spending despite financial constraints
Motivation: Prioritizing wellness even when it requires payment plans
Financial Reality: Income varies, but consistently willing to stretch budgets for health
Examples:
Therapy sessions split into payments
At-home hormone tests financed over 4 payments
Premium period care with payment plans
Gym memberships and boutique fitness classes
Key Insight: They view health spending as non-negotiable investment, using BNPL to manage cash flow rather than delay care
Risk Factor: 50%+ have missed payments, indicating spending beyond true affordability
2. The Crisis Managers (~25%)
BNPL Usage: Emergency health financing when traditional options fail
Motivation: Avoiding delayed care or choosing between health and other necessities
Financial Reality: Genuinely constrained, often using BNPL for basics
Examples:
BNPL grocery bills to afford prescription copays
Financing urgent care visits
Breaking up dental work payments
Using BNPL for health insurance premiums
Key Insight: BNPL becomes a healthcare safety net when insurance gaps exist
Risk Factor: Highest default rates, most likely to accumulate debt
3. The Cash Flow Optimizers (~15%)
BNPL Usage: Convenience tool for premium health products while preserving liquidity
Motivation: Maintaining investment capacity and earning rewards/points
Financial Reality: Higher disposable income, could afford upfront payment
Examples:
0% APR financing on Oura rings, CGMs, premium supplements
Annual wellness packages split into payments
Pilates princesses
Boutique fertility preservation with payment plans
Key Insight: Using BNPL as financial tool and not a necessity
Risk Factor: Lowest default rates, most likely to pay on time
Long-term Vision
As these BNPL-first users age and (hopefully) increase their earning power, they'll become your highest lifetime value customers if you've built trust through responsible practices. The brands that exploit this generation's financial constraints will lose them as soon as they have alternatives.
All Things Femtech is an entirely reader-supported publication that unpacks the psychology behind what young women are actually buying and why. If you read it every week and find these cultural insights valuable, consider liking or sharing this essay or becoming a paid subscriber! Or consider buying me a coffee instead!
Curation:
Midi Health launches insurance-covered longevity program designed for women (Axios)
Wisp launches at-home STI testing to complete telehealth platform (Femtech Insider)
Maternal mental health has declined, study says (The New York Times)
Target earnings soar as brand leans into Gen Z-loved sex toys, skincare (New York Post)
Modibodi targets Gen Z in period underwear campaign (The Australian)
NHS England rolls out first-of-its-kind liquid biopsy blood test for breast and lung cancer patients (The Times)
Study links rising temperatures to increased cancer rates among women in the Middle East and North Africa (The Washington Post)
Researchers call for renaming Polycystic Ovary Syndrome to better reflect its broad health impacts (Herald Sun)
CDC cuts contraception research team, raising concerns about access to up-to-date guidelines (NPR)
New study finds 64% of U.S. mothers report significant decline in mental health since 2016 (People)
Researchers develop AI model to extract menstrual health data from clinical notes with 90% accuracy (arXiv)
Toxic glyphosate levels found in UK tampons, exceeding legal water limits by 40 times (The Guardian)
Endometriosis research center opens at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory with $20M funding (New York Post)
ACOG updates guidelines to recommend better pain management during gynecological procedures (The Week)
Women's Health Initiative receives renewed NIH funding after initial termination decision (WHI)
Deal sheet and Fundraising:
WellTheory locked in $5M to grow its virtual care model for autoimmune patients (FutureFemHealth)
ReproNovo secured $65M Series A to scale next-gen fertility and reproductive therapies (Femtech Insider)
PHASE Scientific raised $34M to expand its urine-based diagnostic tech for women’s health (Femtech Insider)
Who’s Hiring?
Flo Health is a London-based digital health company offering an AI-powered app that helps over 420 million users worldwide track their menstrual cycles, ovulation, and pregnancy, providing personalized health insights and fostering a private community for women at every stage of their reproductive journey.
Flo Health | London, UK | Content Design Lead
Flo Health | London, UK | Growth Lead
Flo Health | London, UK | Senior Product Manager – Gen AI & LLMs
Flo Health | London, UK | Senior Product Manager – Wearables
Flo Health | London, UK | CRM Manager – 12 Months FTC Maternity Cover
Flo Health | London, UK | Director of Engineering
Flo Health | London, UK | Engineering Manager
Flo Health | London, UK | Senior/Lead Android Engineer
Flo Health | London, UK | Senior Security Engineer
