Oscar, the Health Insurance Startup Takes on a New Strategy

Mario Schlosser, CEO of Oscar Health Insurance Corp. has come up with a strategy that would help his startup shoot up into the ranks of the health insurance giants. He plans to build his firm into a million-customer player in the field of health insurance. The strategy involves the usage of exclusive networks with hospitals to sell competitively priced insurance in about 30 US markets.
The wise move to shift from Oscar’s base, which was in New York, has helped the startup grow and procure about 43,000 members in the cities of Dallas and San Antonio during its first year in the Texas market. Oscar as succeeded in boosting enrollment to 145,000 customers this year- the figure was just 40,000 last year.
“The bet we made in going deep with a couple of health systems, I love what we’re doing there,” Schlosser said in an interview. Oscar has raised about $1.75 billion from various private investors, since its commencement in 2012.
The strategy will be based on the two main features of the markets created by President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. They are: Consumers tend to go with cheaper plans and that each customer can shop for his or her policy. Depending on a narrow set of doctors and hospitals to build an insurance plan can greatly help the startup by keeping its premiums to a minimum.