Oscar Health

Oscar is a health-based insurtech employing technology, design, and data to improve the current healthcare system. Via its mobile app, customers can access telemedicine, actively reduce their insurance premiums through monitored exercise, view past medical history in a secure place, and submit symptoms to receive treatment suggestions.

On top of this, Oscar provides policy holders with free wearable fitness trackers integrated with their app, rewarding members for staying active and providing a regular cognitive link between the brand and their improving health. Features like this, alongside intuitive registration and policy administration, contribute towards Oscar’s engaging brand experience. In fact, in late 2018, Oscar revealed that 91 percent of members' issues that year were resolved in just one appointment through its Doctor on Call app.

A team of 700+, the venture has about 400,000 members - 375,000 individuals and 20,000 members through small-group insurance. Oscar moved to a new headquarters (One Hudson Square) in New York in 2019 to make room for the continued employee growth.

In 2018, Oscar announced their expansion into several new states (Florida, Michigan and Arizona) and have filed to offer insurance in 9 states and 14 markets in 2019. When factoring in premiums sent to AXA, Oscar took in about $725M in premiums across its states in 2018. In 2020, Oscar will start offering Medicare Advantage plans to seniors.

In 2019 Oscar disclosed it had signed a new multi-year agreement with Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity reinsurance subsidiary (NICO), hinting it could be planning to expand in the individual and small groups markets.

In January 2020 Oscar announced it was partnering with Cigna to offer services to small business owners.

A few months later, in April, CEO Mario Schlosser announced that Oscar was going to reduce costs, including losing 5% of Oscar employees.

In June 2020 Oscar raised $225m in new funding. The health insurer stated it would use the funding to drive growth - it claimed a $2bn revenue base - and expand access to more affordable healthcare. Existing investors Alphabet, General Catalyst and more took part, as well as new investors such as Coatue.

Oscar expects to operate in 29 markets by the end of 2020. As of September 30, 2020, Oscar had approximately 420,000 members across 15 states.

In December Oscar raised $140m in a round led by Tiger Management Global.

In February 2021 Oscar Health filed for IPO. According to the filing, the company now has 529k members and serves 18 states. It was also revealed the company lost $407m on revenue of $1.67bn last year.

In March 2021 Oscar IPO-ed, with shares reaching an above target $39. The Alphabet-backed company raised $1.2bn and the health insurtech reached a market value of $7.7bn.

The following month, Oscar Health launched +Oscar, a tech-driven platform business, which will offer a full-stack platform and health plan infrastructure, marketable member experiences, and medical cost management to clients in the Individual, Medicare Advantage and Group business lines.

In November 2021, Oscar partnered with Stride Health to offer a fully-integrated enrollment experience. In the same month, Oscar also partnered with Emory Healthcare to offer insurance and care at over 250 provider locations in Georgia from 2022.

Since being founded in 2013 by American businessman and investor Joshua Kushner and ex-Microsoft Global Business Manager Kevin Nazemi, Oscar has secured backing from Chinese insurer PingAn, Google's parent company Alphabet, and Khosla Ventures, among others.