Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/568709
48 PAYER ISSUES PAYER ISSUES 10 Things to Know About Oscar Health Insurance: The Uber of Health Plans? By Tamara Rosin O scar Health Insurance, a young New York- based start-up valued at $1.5 billion, is laud- ed as a disrupter among its more traditional contemporaries. With its quirky branding and em- phasis on simplicity, it has been coined the "hipster" health insurance company poised to "make health insurance suck less." Here are 10 things to know about the health insurance company. 1. Joshua Kushner, a venture investor at rive Capital, cofounded Oscar Health Insurance with Kevin Nazemi and Mario Schlosser in July 2013. Mr. Schlosser serves as Oscar's CEO. e insurance company originally provided coverage to individuals in New York, and later added nine upstate counties of New Jersey to its service line. Oscar has announced plans to expand into Texas and California, but "con- versations with regulators are ongoing," Mr. Schlosser told Fortune. 2. In April, Oscar raised a large round of funding that moved the company's value to $1.5 billion. e fund- ing, which brought in $145 million in new capital, was led by Founders Fund, as well as Horizon Ventures, Wellington Management Company and Goldman Sachs, according to For- tune. Oscar was previously backed by $150 million in funding. While $1.5 billion is pocket change com- pared to UnitedHealth Group's $114 billion market cap or Aetna's $37.75 billion value, the new insurance company's rapid success in a short amount of time suggests significant room for growth. 3. Oscar is among the largest startups in the health insurance industry, according to Fortune. e insurer tripled enrollment this year from 17,000 to 40,000 members, which amounts to roughly $200 million in annual premiums. ough still in its infancy, Oscar calculates it represents approximately 12 to 15 per- cent of the marketplace for individual health insur- ance in New York, according to Fortune. e compa- ny has also grown its workforce from 90 employees in 2014 to 185 in April 2015. 4. Oscar's founders set out to apply a design-cen- tric approach to health insurance, with a focus on improving the user experience in an industry that is notoriously complex and difficult to navigate. To receive a quote from Oscar, one must enter five pieces of information on a clean web page that automatical- ly presents the next data entry field, meaning the user does not face more than one task at any one time and " " Fighting a sinus infection for a week. Used Oscar's 'Doctor on Call' service and got antibiotics at my pharmacy in 30 minutes. <3 @OscarHealth! — Nate Poekert, Oscar member