New York City-based Oscar Health and Cleveland Clinic are jointly offering health insurance plans on and off the exchanges in Ohio, with coverage beginning in January 2018.
The Cleveland Clinic | Oscar individual health plans will be available to those in the northeastern Ohio counties of Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Summit.
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Each insurance member will be paired with a Cleveland Clinic Care Team and an Oscar Health Concierge Team, which will assist them in navigating the healthcare system. Additionally, members can utilize both Cleveland Clinic’s Express Care Online and Oscar’s Virtual Visits without a co-pay.
The endeavor marks new territory for both organizations. It’s Oscar’s entrée into the Ohio market and it’s Cleveland Clinic’s first time making a splash in the insurance market with a product bearing its name.
Oscar currently offers coverage in New York, Texas and California, a company spokesperson said via email.
According to Oscar, Cleveland Clinic approached it to explore co-branding an insurance option.
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“They could have partnered with any insurer in the world, but they chose Oscar because of our proven ability to engage members using a tech-driven, personalized service,” an Oscar spokesperson said. “Only a world-renowned physician-led system like Cleveland Clinic and a tech-driven startup like Oscar can come together to rebuild a billing-centered healthcare experience into a patient-centered healthcare experience.”
From Cleveland Clinic’s perspective, the move was a key way to expand its offerings to patients.
“We are committed to being available to all people in Northeast Ohio and this is an important segment of the marketplace and we believe this product is another way to make ourselves available for care to people who are purchasing individual health insurance,” Kevin Sears, executive director of Cleveland Clinic’s market and network services, said via email.
Though the plans will be available on and off the ACA exchanges, the move to offer on-exchange plans at a time like this is could be risky, especially given Oscar’s history and the current Ohio marketplace.
Oscar has already dropped out of a few Obamacare markets. Last August, it revealed plans to leave the New Jersey and Dallas-Fort Worth exchanges beginning in 2017.
And last week, Anthem said it will drop out of the ACA exchanges in Ohio in 2018, according to The New York Times.
But Oscar Health remains positive about the move, despite Anthem’s decision to leave the state.
“[T]his partnership stems from Cleveland Clinic’s interest in more easily offering health insurance directly to its patients,” an Oscar spokesperson said. “That’s why these products will be offered in the specific counties where Cleveland Clinic operates.”
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