The Oscar Insurance Company

by John Hansen

Who is this new startup health care company and what makes them so special?

When you land on the Oscar insurance official website home page, there is a humble, yet bold greeting: “Hi, we’re Oscar.”  The health plan was founded in 2012 by Mario Schlosser, Kevin Nazemi and Joshua Kushner.

Kushner was a big part of the financial backing right away. He is one of the famous Kushner brothers. His brother is married to Donald Trump’s daughter. And, it has been said that Trump seeks advice on the ACA and health care from Joshua Kushner.

Highly Satisfied Members

Oscar Health Care brags, “Our members love us! They like our plans. They use our tools. They come to us when they get sick. They recommend us to friends and family.”

• In a third party study, 97% of Oscar insurance members said they were satisfied with their plan compared to 86% who were satisfied with competitors.
• 87% of account holders have a web login and 52% have the health plan’s app. 33% of mobile users log in weekly.
• So far the company has given out $235,000 in Misfit rewards to members who achieve certain health goals.
• 70% of their members agree that care starts not with their doctor, but with Oscar.

Word of mouth is the #1 way people hear about Oscar health insurance. The health plan’s net promoter score is 30+, where the industry average is 10.

Funded by Venture Capitalists

So far the company has raised over $750 million to date. That includes a fairly recent $400 million from Fidelity. Even after showing losses of over $100 million in 2015, Fidelity was willing to invest in this startup health insurance company.

Oscar insurance has received funds from top investors which include Thrive, Google Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Formation 8, and General Catalyst.

These companies were early supporters of Facebook, Instagram, PayPal, Space X, Palantir, Warby Parker and Tesla. This speaks to the innovation of the health plan that would attract such savvy investors.

Membership in New York, New Jersey, California and Texas

The medical insurance company has 140,000 members in New York, New Jersey, California and Texas. Oscar health plans have 22% market share in New York and is approaching market domination in some areas.

They expanded to California and Texas for Open Enrollment 2016. In 2017 in California, they are expanding to new markets including the San Francisco Bay Area.

However, in 2017 Oscar insurance is dropping out of New Jersey. In Texas, they will remain in San Antonio, but they are withdrawing from the Dallas market.

High Quality Employees

Oscar has acquired top talent from Apple, Google, Facebook, Bridgewater, McKinsey, Aetna, Cigna, and R/GA. They have over 500 employees and are growing.

The health plan is headquartered in downtown New York City with offices in Los Angeles and Dallas. Most of their employees are currently in New York. They have 10-15 employees in California, 8 in Dallas, and 10 claims processors in Cincinnati.

Recently, Oscar insurance opened up a new office in Tempe, Arizona. Some of their New York employees have already moved to Tempe, and others will be following. This will soon be their biggest call center.