Oscar, The Health Insurance Startup That Wants To Revolutionize Healthcare

December 10 01:00 2015 by ushadmin

Growing up in India, Suyog Mody was always one call away from a doctor. When Mody wasn’t feeling well, his parents would run his symptoms by his aunt or uncle, who are both physicians. If a prescription was needed, they would call the local pharmacy.

These days, Mody, 32, and his wife live in Brooklyn, New York, where he no longer has a doctor in the family who lives nearby. But now, he says he has something almost as good: free, unlimited telephone access to on-demand doctors through his health insurer’s telemedicine benefit.

After Mody quit his job last year to work with his wife full time on their coffee delivery business, Drift Away Coffee, he turned to the New York State of Health Marketplace to find a health insurance plan. Ultimately, the couple chose Oscar, a New York healthcare startup that is popular among millennials.

Last month, during a busy week at work, Mody felt a cold coming on. Taking time to visit the doctor was out of the question. Instead he used the Oscar’s mobile app to request a call from the teledoctor service. Five minutes later he had a prescription for an antibiotic and within a couple of days was back to normal.

“If I had to go to a doctor, I may have to just sit and wait, which takes so much more time,” he said. “This way is more seamless and on my terms as opposed to someone else’s time and schedule.”

Taking a page from companies like Uber and Warby Parker, which use technology to enhance the customer experience, Oscar could be a model for how the industry evolves. Its services appeal to a younger crowd that values efficiency and good design. The company offers a unique set of benefits, ranging from free telemedicine and primary care visits to no-cost generic prescriptions and reimbursement for healthy lifestyle choices. Founded in 2013, Oscar has raised $327.5 million from the likes of Google Capital and Goldman Sachs. With more than 40,000 members across New York and New Jersey, the company recently expanded its coverage to select cities in California and Texas…