Oscar, is a new kind of health insurance company, that hopes to use technology to make good care easier to find. A patient can log on to Oscar’s website and see his recent doctor’s visits and drug purchases, in the same way he can see his timeline on Facebook. Enter a symptom such as “my tummy hurts” into Oscar’s search engine, and the engine presents possible conditions, as well as a list of clinics and doctors, with the average price beside each option.

Oscar offers free generic drugs and a few free visits to general practitioners each year. Virtual doctor’s appointments, or televisits, are available all day.  Its staff includes former leaders at Foursquare and Tumblr, two celebrated startups. In January it raised $30m, on top of a previous $45m, to expand its team.

Furthr, who works with other insurance companies,  loves their fresh,clean easy to use website and is intrigued to see how the web might be able to shift the insurance business, just as it has changed entertainment, retail and a host of others.

Posted in: Opinion