Press Release

Birches Health Adds Former Cigna-Evernorth Chief Medical Officer Dr. Doug Nemecek to Advisory Board

Issued by Birches Health

Apr. 9, 2026

• Former Cigna-Evernorth CMO joins advisory board as the company continues to scale its delivery of specialized evidence-based care in the wake of national gambling crisis
• Birches Health is building a national, payor-integrated model for delivering insurance-covered treatment for gambling disorder

NEW YORK -- Birches Health, the leading national provider of specialized digital addiction treatment, today announced that Dr. Doug Nemecek has joined its advisory board as a senior advisor. In his role, Dr. Nemecek will work closely with the Birches leadership team to support clinical strategy and payor engagement, bringing a payor-informed perspective on how health plans evaluate and scale specialty behavioral health solutions.

"Dr. Nemecek has spent his career at the center of how behavioral health care is delivered and scaled in the U.S.," said Elliott Rapaport, Founder and CEO of Birches Health. "He understands how payors evaluate new categories of care and what it takes to bring them into the mainstream healthcare system. As gambling addiction becomes a growing focus for health plans, his perspective will be critical in helping us align our clinical model, outcomes, and partnerships with how care is actually delivered and paid for at scale."

Dr. Nemecek is a board-certified psychiatrist and former Chief Medical Officer of Behavioral Health at Cigna-Evernorth Health Services. For over 20 years with Cigna-Evernorth, he led clinical strategy, quality, and operations for a multi-billion-dollar behavioral health business serving more than 16 million members. In that role, Dr. Nemecek was responsible for network access, patient safety, and clinical quality across a national provider footprint, while helping shape how behavioral health services are integrated into payor models and broader medical care. He has led work spanning utilization management, provider network design, and the development of large-scale clinical programs, including initiatives designed to align clinical outcomes with cost and performance for health plans. He has also built unified medical management approaches that align providers, payors, and patients. Dr. Nemecek has been at the forefront of efforts to address some of the field's most pressing challenges, including the opioid epidemic, the growing impact of loneliness, and persistent gaps in access to behavioral health care.

"Doug is one of the most respected leaders in behavioral health. Having worked closely with him at Evernorth, I saw firsthand how he approaches complex payor environments," said Andrew DiGiacomo, SVP of Strategy at Birches Health. "I'm excited to partner with him again, and his experience is directly aligned with how we are building Birches to deliver structured, measurable care at scale."

Dr. Nemecek joins Birches Health at a time when access to gambling addiction care is shifting from fragmented, out-of-pocket support to structured, insurance-covered treatment. Health plans are beginning to recognize gambling disorder as an emerging area of need, with increasing focus on specialty solutions that can demonstrate clinical outcomes, cost impact, and scalability. For decades, options were limited to informal support models or generalist care, with little access to clinicians trained specifically in gambling disorder. As online and mobile betting surge, gambling-related harm is reaching record levels nationwide, clinical need is rising faster than the system's ability to respond. Birches Health has built the largest national network of clinicians specialized in gambling disorder and behavioral addictions, delivering evidence-based care covered by major insurance plans across all 50 states. The company's clinical outcomes data show that 85% of patients experience clinically significant improvement in symptoms, reinforcing the impact of specialized, measurement-informed care.

"Behavioral addictions like gambling are becoming more visible, but the care system has not kept pace with the level of need," said Dr. Doug Nemecek. "Birches is building a model that brings structure, quality, and accessibility to a category that has historically lacked all three, while aligning with how payors think about clinical validation, outcomes, and total cost of care. It's a privilege to support the team as they scale a clinical approach designed for both patients and the broader healthcare system."

About Birches Health: Birches Health is the leading national clinical provider of specialized treatment for digital addictions, covered by insurance and state funding. Birches Health's mission is to provide convenient, comprehensive care and resources for individuals facing challenges related to gambling disorder and other behavioral addictions. For more information, visit www.bircheshealth.com.

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