Oscar Health Inc

Previous wording

Oscar Health, Inc. is a leading healthcare technology company, whose mission is to make a healthier life accessible and affordable for all. Our full stack technology platform refers to our differentiated cloud-native end-to-end technology solution, which connects our member-facing features, including our mobile application, website, and virtual care solutions with our back-office tools that span all critical healthcare insurance and technology domains, including member and provider data, utilization management, claims management, billing, and benefits. Our member-first philosophy and innovative approach to care has earned the trust of approximately 1.6 million members, as of June 30, 2024. We currently offer individual and family as well as small group plans and we offer services through +Oscar that utilize our full stack technology platform to power others within the healthcare space.

Current wording

Oscar Health, Inc. is a leading healthcare technology company, whose mission is to make a healthier life accessible and affordable for all. Our full stack technology platform refers to our differentiated cloud-native end-to-end technology solution, which connects our member-facing features, including our mobile application, website, and virtual care solutions with our back-office tools that span all critical healthcare insurance and technology domains, including member and provider data, utilization management, claims management, billing, and benefits. Our member-first philosophy and innovative approach to care has earned the trust of approximately 1.65 million members, as of September 30, 2024. We currently offer individual and family as well as small group plans and we offer services through +Oscar that utilize our full stack technology platform to power others within the healthcare space.

Previous wording

Premium revenue includes direct policy premiums collected from our members and from the federal government, risk adjustment transfers, and assumed policy premiums we receive as part of our reinsurance arrangement under our Cigna+Oscar Small Group plan offering, and is net of ceded premium from run-off quota share reinsurance contracts accounted for under reinsurance accounting. Investment income primarily includes investment income, interest earned, and gains (losses) on our investment portfolio. Services and other revenue includes primarily revenue earned from administrative services performed as part of the +Oscar platform, as well as sublease income.

Current wording

Premium revenue includes direct policy premiums collected from our members and from the federal government, risk adjustment transfers, and assumed policy premiums we receive as part of our reinsurance arrangement under our Cigna+Oscar Small Group plan offering, and is net of ceded premium from excess of loss ("XOL") and run-off quota share reinsurance contracts accounted for under reinsurance accounting. Investment income primarily includes investment income, interest earned, and gains (losses) on our investment portfolio. Services and other revenue includes primarily revenue earned from administrative services performed as part of the +Oscar platform, as well as sublease income.

Previous wording

The SG&A Expense Ratio reflects the Company’s Selling, general and administrative expenses, as a percentage of Total revenue. Selling, general and administrative expenses primarily include wages, benefits, costs of software and hardware, and administrative costs for our corporate and technology functions, the impact of quota share reinsurance, and stock-based compensation. We believe the SG&A Expense Ratio is useful to evaluate our ability to manage our overall selling, general, and administrative cost base.

Current wording

The SG&A Expense Ratio reflects the Company’s Selling, general and administrative expenses, as a percentage of Total revenue. Selling, general and administrative expenses primarily include distribution expenses, wages, benefits, costs of software and hardware, the impact of quota share reinsurance, stock-based compensation, and other administrative costs. We believe the SG&A Expense Ratio is useful to evaluate our ability to manage our overall selling, general, and administrative cost base.

Previous wording

Our membership is measured as of a particular point in time and is concentrated in the individual market. Membership may vary throughout the year due to disenrollments, the Special Enrollment Period (“SEP”), and other market dynamics that are in effect such as Medicaid redeterminations, other legislative or regulatory actions, or other factors that enable the overall market to grow or decline throughout the year.

Current wording

Our membership is measured as of a particular point in time and is concentrated in the individual market. Membership may vary throughout the year due to disenrollments, any Special Enrollment Periods (“SEP”), and other market dynamics that are in effect such as Medicaid redeterminations, other legislative or regulatory actions, or other factors that enable the overall market to grow or decline throughout the year.

Previous wording

Our risk adjustment transfer estimates are subject to a high degree of estimation and variability and are affected by the relative risk of our members, and in the case of ACA, relative to that of other insurers. There is a higher degree of uncertainty associated with estimates of risk adjustment transfers at the beginning of the policy year resulting from composition of the risk score being based on concurrent claim data. There is additional uncertainty for both markets and blocks of business that experience outsized growth, compounded by the lack of credible experience data on the newly enrolling population. Furthermore, there is also uncertainty associated with changes in other carriers operations, which may impact the ultimate degree of market level risk. Actual risk adjustment calculations and transfers could materially differ from our assumptions.

Current wording

Our risk adjustment transfer estimates are subject to a high degree of estimation and variability and are affected by the relative risk of our members, and in the case of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") risk adjustment program, relative to that of other insurers. There is a higher degree of uncertainty associated with estimates of risk adjustment transfers at the beginning of the policy year resulting from composition of the risk score being based on concurrent claim data. There is additional uncertainty for both markets and blocks of business that experience outsized growth, compounded by the lack of credible experience data on the newly enrolling population. Furthermore, there is also uncertainty associated with changes in other carriers operations, which may impact the ultimate degree of market level risk. Actual risk adjustment calculations and transfers could materially differ from our assumptions.

Previous wording

Our business is generally affected by the seasonal patterns of our member enrollment, medical expenses, and health plan mix shift. SEP or other market dynamics that drive enrollment and/or mix changes throughout the year may impact the per member levels of premiums, claims, and/or risk adjustment transfers. Additionally, medical expenses have historically been highest towards the second half of the year due to a number of factors discussed above.

Current wording

Our business is generally affected by the seasonal patterns of our member enrollment, medical expenses, and health plan mix shift and product design. SEP or other market dynamics that drive enrollment and/or mix changes throughout the year may impact the per member levels of premiums, claims, and/or risk adjustment transfers. Additionally, medical expenses have historically been highest towards the second half of the year due to a number of factors discussed above.

Previous wording

We believe our reinsurance agreements help us achieve important goals for our business, including risk management, capital efficiency, and greater predictability in our earnings in the event of unexpected significant fluctuations in our MLR. Specifically, reinsurance is a financial arrangement under which the reinsurer agrees to cover a portion of our medical claims in return for a portion of the premium. Our reinsurance agreements are contracted under two different types of arrangements: quota share reinsurance contracts and excess of loss ("XOL") reinsurance contracts. Reinsurance agreements do not relieve us of our primary medical claims incurred obligations. Refer to Note 9 - Reinsurance included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for a description of the accounting methods used to record our quota share reinsurance arrangements.

Current wording

We believe our reinsurance agreements help us achieve important goals for our business, including risk management, capital efficiency, and greater predictability in our earnings in the event of unexpected significant fluctuations in our MLR. Specifically, reinsurance is a financial arrangement under which the reinsurer agrees to cover a portion of our medical claims in return for a portion of the premium. Our reinsurance agreements are contracted under two different types of arrangements: quota share reinsurance contracts and XOL reinsurance contracts. Reinsurance agreements do not relieve us of our primary medical claims incurred obligations. Refer to Note 9 - Reinsurance included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for a description of the accounting methods used to record our quota share reinsurance arrangements.

Previous wording

In December 2022, Congress passed the omnibus spending bill which delinked the Medicaid continuous coverage from the end of the public health emergency (“PHE”) for COVID-19. Medicaid redeterminations were required to begin by April 1, 2023, and while most states initially anticipated completing unwinding-related renewals by mid-2024, many states have extended their unwinding timelines for several additional months, due to adoption of strategies to promote continuity of coverage for eligible individuals, pauses in procedural disenrollments, or other state-specific situations. The redeterminations are ongoing, and consumers’ transitions from Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage to ACA marketplace plans may contribute to additional growth in the ACA marketplace. CMS also previously announced a SEP that began March 31, 2023 and was expected to end July 31, 2024, but has been extended to November 30, 2024. The latest estimates from CMS indicate that Medicaid redeterminations will be complete in almost all states in which Oscar offers plans by July 2024, however, given uncertainties in CMS’s estimates and the extended SEP, we expect to continue to see consumers enrolling in ACA marketplace plans past this date.

Current wording

In December 2022, Congress passed the omnibus spending bill which delinked the Medicaid continuous coverage from the end of the public health emergency for COVID-19. Medicaid redeterminations were required to begin by April 1, 2023, and while most states initially anticipated completing unwinding-related renewals by mid-2024, many states have extended their unwinding timelines for several additional months, due to adoption of strategies to promote continuity of coverage for eligible individuals, pauses in procedural disenrollments, or other state-specific situations. CMS also previously announced an SEP that began March 31, 2023 and was expected to end July 31, 2024, but has been extended to November 30, 2024. While CMS guidance indicates that Medicaid redeterminations have been completed in certain states, CMS has recently announced that all unwinding-related renewals for beneficiaries enrolled in Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) must be completed no later than December 31, 2025. We continue to expect that consumers’ transitions from Medicaid and CHIP coverage to ACA marketplace plans may contribute to additional growth in the ACA marketplace.

Previous wording

On July 19, 2024, in response to increases in unauthorized changes in consumers’ enrollments by agents and brokers, CMS announced they will now block an agent or broker from making changes to a consumer’s federally facilitated marketplace enrollment unless the agent is already associated with the consumer’s enrollment. We continue to monitor regulatory developments to address bad actors, including possible changes to eligibility or income verification requirements or increased enforcement of existing requirements by CMS.

Current wording

On July 19, 2024, in response to increases in unauthorized changes in consumers’ enrollments by agents and brokers, CMS introduced changes to the ACA broker Agent of Record process, tightening compliance by requiring brokers to follow stricter documentation protocols and obtain explicit consumer consent. We continue to monitor regulatory developments to address bad actors, including possible changes to eligibility or income verification requirements or increased enforcement of existing requirements by CMS.