We got the first look at Oscar's financials since Alphabet made its $375 million investment — and the health insurer's losses are narrowing

mario schlosser oscar health

Health insurance startup Oscar Health just came out with its third-quarter results.
According to state insurance filings compiled by Business Insider, for the first nine months of 2018, Oscar lost $12 million. That's significantly less of a loss than a year ago when it reported a $96 million loss.
It's the first time we've seen results from the company that took place after Alphabet invested $375 million in the company.

2018 is shaping up to be a better year for Oscar Health, a hot Obamacare startup that drew a massive investment from Google's parent company in August.

Oscar lost $12 million in the first nine months of 2018, according to state insurance filings compiled by Business Insider.

That's significantly less of loss than the company experienced a year ago, when it reported a $96 million loss.

Oscar currently offers health insurance plans on the Obamacare marketplace in New York, New Jersey, California, Ohio, Texas and Tennessee. It also sells plans for small employers. The company has already announced plans to sell in more states for next year, and eventually plans to expand into the market for private health insurance plans for seniors, known as Medicare Advantage.

Other notable figures for the first nine months of the year, according to the filings:

Oscar's revenue across six states was $539 million.
The company paid out $418 million in medical expenses for its customers.
There were about 227,000 total members as of September 30.

Oscar's financial results are affected by a reinsurance deal that the company entered into with Axa last year. A portion of the premiums that Oscar collects are sent to Axa, a massive French insurance company. In return, Axa agrees to share a portion of Oscar's profits or losses.

If you add back in the money that was sent to Axa, Oscar took in $934 million in gross premiums across its states in the first nine months of this year, the company said. That puts it on track to hit its $1 billion in premiums target by the end of 2018.

Alphabet backing

Oscar in August got $375 million from Google's parent company Alphabet to bring its tech-backed health insurance plans to more people. In total, the company has now raised more than $1 billion. Its last-reported valuation was $3.2 billion, before the Alphabet investment.

Co-founded in 2012 by Josh Kushner, whose brother Jared is a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, Oscar Health is a health-insurance startup that got its start operating on the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges. The goal is to be a more consumer-friendly insurance option by integrating technology.

Mario Schlosser is Oscar's chief executive officer, and also a co-founder.

In 2019, Oscar plans to be in nine states, expanding into Florida, Arizona and Michigan.

The company also plans to go beyond the individual exchanges and the small employer market and into the Medicare Advantage market. When seniors in the US turn 65, they can choose to be part of either traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage, which is operated through private insurers like Oscar and often provides additional healthcare benefits.

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