Oscar Expands to Six New Markets
By Mario Schlosser, CEO and Co-Founder, Oscar Health
Today, Oscar is announcing that it has filed to offer its consumer-focused, technology-driven health insurance in nine states and 14 markets in 2019, nearly doubling our current footprint. Our six new markets will be spread across three new states — Florida, Arizona, and Michigan — and three additional large metro areas in Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, subject to regulatory approval.
Our sustained expansion positions Oscar as one of the fastest-growing insurers in the country, and speaks to the power and effectiveness of our unique playbook. In each new city, Oscar will attract and engage significant membership, guide members to the right care with the best consumer product in the industry, and work in close alignment with the highest value hospitals and doctors to deliver efficient, quality care. In 2019, this approach will aim to serve hundreds of thousands of members on a national scale, from Spanish-speaking freelancers in San Antonio to small businesses in New York City and aerospace entrepreneurs in Florida.
Traditionally, this kind of scale in health insurance has failed to benefit consumers. Most insurance companies simply spread risk and reduce costs when adding new members, but a policyholder in New Jersey doesn’t get better care when a new member in Arizona signs on. Not true for Oscar.
Oscar was created, first and foremost, as a technology-driven insurer. Each new member and interaction with the health care system offers Oscar an opportunity to refine our member apps and make better recommendations for care; to enable our population health leads and Concierge teams to drive more personalized interventions; to empower providers with easier tools that let them focus on delivering care. That’s because Oscar built and owns the full insurance stack, from our claims system to our mobile apps, allowing us to constantly feed structured data back into system and fuel the member experience. In every successive market we enter, whether it be Austin or Cleveland, we introduce a stronger Oscar product than the last.
In health care, legal, political, and regulatory uncertainties are a business reality, but Oscar has remained focused on our long-term vision for a simpler, easier, and more affordable system. This kind of relentless focus on building what consumers want means that Oscar can withstand and adapt to new environments -- both as we scale deeper into the individual market and continue to grow beyond it.
The confidence that stems from building a health care experience that consumers demand has served us well and will continue to do so in the future -- indeed, even as we announce new individual markets today, just three weeks ago we expanded Oscar for Business to Los Angeles.
In 2019, there will be yet more noise. But Oscar will still be here, stronger than before, in more cities than before, focused and inspired by the mission of better health care for our members.