By Mario Schlosser, CEO and Co-founder, Oscar
When we launched Oscar more than six years ago, we had one goal in mind: to make health care easy.
As consumers ourselves, we knew how complicated the health care system could be. We asked ourselves why there wasn’t an easier way to find high-quality, lower-cost doctors; why there wasn’t a go-to source to answer even the simplest of health care questions; and why some parts of the health care system seemed to be stuck in the era of the fax machine.
The only way to fix the system, we determined, was to empower the consumer. We saw an opportunity to build a more personalized experience with smarter technology so that we could become a better health care guide for our members—and we did just that. We save them time and money by making virtual care available, 24/7 and for free: the average member saves $129 every time they use Doctor on Call. We make finding a doctor easy by recommending the best providers for our members: more than 90% of them would recommend the doctor they found through Oscar. And we earn our members’ trust by providing a dedicated Concierge team that they can always turn to: 77% have contacted their Concierge team to help guide their care; and—most importantly—74% of our members say they trust us to give advice on how and where to get the care they need.
Today, we are announcing that we are bringing that same personalized experience to Medicare Advantage (opens in new tab) (MA) consumers by offering MA plans in New York and Houston, TX during the Annual Election Period this fall, pending regulatory approval. We want to give Medicare Advantage consumers the same opportunity our members on the individual market have: to choose an insurer who will be their advocate.
We already know that Oscar’s tools are accessible to people of all ages and are capable of making the health care experience easier for everyone: 76% of our members who are 63-years-old and over already have digital accounts with us, and 83% of them have reached out to their Concierge teams. We know these tools will be useful for our new Medicare Advantage members as well, whether they’re searching for a doctor on our mobile app, contacting their personalized Concierge team for guidance, or consulting a doctor via telemedicine. And we know our members care about cost, so we’ll help them find the right doctors and medication without running into surprises, and we’ll ensure they get the most out of their benefits and keep more money in their pockets.