Oscar Health (OSCR) 10-Q2024 Q3 Quarterly report

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q may be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, risk adjustment transfer payments, industry, regulatory and business trends, our commercial arrangements, business strategy, plans and plan mix, membership and market growth, and our objectives for future operations.

The forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following:

The forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the documents that we reference in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and have filed as exhibits to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.

1.    ORGANIZATION

Oscar Health, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (either individually or collectively referred to as "Oscar" or the "Company"), is a leading healthcare technology company, whose mission is to make a healthier life accessible and affordable for all. The Company’s Class A common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “OSCR”.

Oscar operates as one segment to sell insurance to its members through the federal and state-run healthcare exchanges formed in conjunction with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and leverages its technology platform to provide services via its +Oscar offering. Individual plans are offered to individuals and families through Health Insurance Marketplaces. Small Group plans are offered to employees of companies with 50 - 100 full-time workers. The Company also partners with Cigna through the Cigna+Oscar partnership to serve the small group employer market. Oscar previously offered Medicare Advantage insurance coverage, but exited the Medicare Advantage market for plan year 2024.

The Company’s member-first philosophy and innovative approach to care has earned the trust of approximately 1.65 million members, as of September 30, 2024.

On March 26, 2024, the Company notified Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company that it is not renewing the Cigna+Oscar Small Group arrangement after the expiration of the initial term on December 31, 2024. The parties will continue to offer their Cigna+Oscar Small Group product through December 15, 2024. Following termination of the arrangement on December 31, 2024, the Company will continue to provide transition and run-off services through December 31, 2026 and share proportionally in all premiums and claims for any Cigna+Oscar Small Group plan sold or issued on or before December 15, 2024, in accordance with the terms of the arrangement. Additionally, effective December 15, 2024, Oscar will no longer be offering small group products in any market.

The accompanying interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP"), and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission for interim financial information. As such, these financial statements do not include all information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements.

These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are unaudited; however, in the opinion of management, they reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to state fairly the information presented in conformity with U.S. GAAP applicable for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year or future periods. These unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Certain monetary amounts, percentages, and other figures included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q have been subject to rounding adjustments. Percentage amounts included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q have not in all cases been calculated on the basis of such rounded figures, but on the basis of such amounts prior to rounding. For this reason, percentage amounts in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q may vary from those obtained by performing the same calculations using the figures in the Company's Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Certain other amounts that appear in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q may not sum due to rounding.

With the commencement of the current fiscal year, the Company has made certain reclassifications to the income statement to provide more transparency into the Company’s streams of revenue and to increase comparability with peers. This reclassification has been applied retrospectively, and comparative figures for prior periods have been adjusted accordingly within the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. The reclassification does not affect the Company’s net income.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes. Significant estimates inherent in the preparation of the accompanying interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include healthcare costs incurred but not yet reported (“IBNR”) and risk adjustment transfers. Estimates are based on past experience and other considerations reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates.

Premium revenue includes direct policy premiums collected from members and the federal government, assumed policy premiums received as part of the reinsurance arrangement under the Cigna+Oscar Small Group plan offering, and risk adjustment transfers. Premium revenue is net of ceded premium from excess of loss ("XOL") and run-off quota share reinsurance contracts accounted for under reinsurance accounting (See Note 9 - Reinsurance for additional information on the Company’s reinsurance contracts).

The Company earns revenue as part of services performed via the +Oscar platform. Services revenue is recognized in the period the contractual performance obligations are satisfied and measured in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for performing the services. The timing of the Company's revenue recognition may differ from the timing of payment by customers. A receivable is recorded to Premiums and accounts receivable when revenue is recognized prior to payment and there is an unconditional right to payment. Alternatively, deferred revenue is recorded to Accounts payable and other liabilities when payment is received before the performance obligations are satisfied. Other revenue includes primarily sublease income.

As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company recorded accrued investment income of $20.7 million and $6.6 million, respectively.

The following tables provide summaries of the Company's investments by major security type as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023:

The following tables present the estimated fair value and gross unrealized losses of fixed maturity securities in a gross unrealized loss position, by the length of time in which the securities have continuously been in that position, as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023:

The Company monitors available-for-sale debt securities for credit losses and recognizes an allowance for credit losses when factors indicate a decline in the fair value of a security is credit-related. Certain investments may experience a decline in fair value due to changes in market interest rates, changes in general economic conditions, or a deterioration in the credit worthiness of a security's issuer. For securities in an unrealized loss position that the Company does not intend to sell, the Company has assessed the gross unrealized losses during the period and determined an allowance for credit losses is not necessary because the declines in fair value are believed to be due to market fluctuations and not due to credit-related events.

The amortized cost and fair value of the Company's fixed maturity securities as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023 by contractual maturity are shown below. Actual maturities of these securities could differ from their contractual maturities because issuers may have the right to call or prepay obligations, with or without penalties.

Fair value represents the price that would be received to sell an asset, or paid to transfer a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants. The Company's financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are categorized into a three-level fair value hierarchy based on the priority of the inputs used in the fair value valuation technique.

The following tables summarize fair value measurements by level for assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis:

Reserves for medical claims expenses are estimated using actuarial assumptions and recorded as Benefits payable liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The assumptions for the estimates and for establishing the resulting liability are reviewed and any adjustments to reserves are reflected in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations in the period in which the estimates are updated.

The following table provides a rollforward of the Company’s beginning and ending benefits payable and claims adjustment expenses ("CAE") payable balances for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023:

Amounts incurred related to prior periods vary from previously estimated liabilities as more claim information becomes available and claims are ultimately settled. The favorable development recognized in the nine months ended September 30, 2024 resulted primarily from lower than expected paid claims.

As previously disclosed in Note 15 - Long-Term Debt, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, in February 2022, the Company issued $305.0 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2031 (the “2031 Notes”) in a private placement to funds affiliated with or advised by Dragoneer Investment Group, LLC, Thrive Capital, LionTree Investment Management, LLC and Tenere Capital LLC. The 2031 Notes are the Company's senior, unsecured obligations which bear interest at a rate of 7.25% per annum, payable in cash, semi-annually in arrears on June 30 and December 31 of each year, commencing on June 30, 2022. The 2031 Notes will mature on December 31, 2031, subject to earlier repurchase, redemption, or conversion.

The 2031 Notes are convertible into the Company's Class A common stock at an initial conversion rate of 120.1721 per $1,000 principal amount (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $8.32 per share of Class A common stock), subject to customary adjustments upon the occurrence of certain events. During the quarterly period ended September 30, 2024, a conditional conversion feature of the 2031 Notes was satisfied when the last reported sales price per share of the Company’s common stock was greater than 130% of the conversion price of $8.32 per share for each of at least twenty (20) trading days during the period of thirty (30) consecutive trading days ending on, and including, the last trading day of the quarter. As a result, the 2031 Notes are convertible during the fourth quarter of 2024 at the option of the holder. As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, the 2031 Notes have not been converted. Upon conversion, the 2031 Notes will be settled, at the Company's election, in shares of Class A common stock, cash, or a combination of cash and shares of Class A common stock, subject to certain exceptions.

The following table presents the interest expense indicating an effective interest rate of 7.61% over the term of the 2031 Notes:

As previously disclosed in Note 15 - Long-Term Debt, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, on December 28, 2023, the Company entered into a third amendment to its senior secured credit agreement (the “Third Amendment”), with certain lenders (the “Lenders”) and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as administrative agent, which amended the senior secured credit agreement, dated as of February 21, 2021 (as amended by the Third Amendment, the “Amended Credit Agreement”). The Amended Credit Agreement provides for a revolving loan credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) in the aggregate principal amount of $115.0 million. The Revolving Credit Facility is guaranteed by Oscar Management Corporation, each wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and all of the Company's future direct and indirect subsidiaries (in each case subject to certain permitted exceptions, including exceptions for certain guarantees (i) that would require material governmental consents or (ii) in respect of joint ventures). The Revolving Credit Facility is secured by substantially all of the Company’s and the guarantors’ assets (subject to certain exceptions). Proceeds are to be used solely for general corporate purposes of the Company.

The Company is permitted to increase commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility by an aggregate amount not to exceed $50.0 million, subject to certain conditions.

The Revolving Credit Facility is available until December 2025, provided the Company is in compliance with all covenants, including financial covenants to maintain minimum thresholds related to direct policy premiums, consolidated Adjusted Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”), and liquidity, and a maximum medical loss ratio.

As of September 30, 2024, there were no outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility.

Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) for the period by the weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding during the period. In periods when the Company is in a net loss position, potentially dilutive securities are excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share because their inclusion would have an anti-dilutive effect. Thus, basic earnings per share is the same as diluted earnings per share.

During periods of net income, diluted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting net income for any interest charges and changes in the fair value of the bifurcated conversion option applicable to the convertible senior notes. This adjusted net income is then divided by the sum of the basic weighted-average shares of common stock and any dilutive potential common stock outstanding during the period, using the treasury stock method. Potential common stock includes the effect of outstanding dilutive stock options, restricted stock units, performance-based restricted stock units, as well as shares the Company could be obligated to issue from its convertible senior notes, as described in Note 7 - Debt, using the if-converted method. The calculation for basic and diluted earnings per share is as follows:

The following potential common shares were excluded from the computation of diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to Oscar Health, Inc. because including them would have had an anti-dilutive effect:

The Company participates in quota share reinsurance to limit risk and capital requirements and XOL reinsurance to mitigate the exposure of high cost or catastrophic member risk. The quota share reinsurance arrangements are with more than one counterparty with multiple state-level treaties. The XOL reinsurance arrangements are with a private counterparty and federal and state-run programs. A summary of the Company's reinsurance agreements and related accounting treatment is included in Note 4 - Reinsurance, in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Reinsurance accounting applies to quota share reinsurance contracts that are in runoff as well as the XOL treaties. Under reinsurance accounting, the Company records premium paid to the reinsurer as a reduction to premium revenue with a corresponding reinsurance payable. In the case of federal and state-run reinsurance programs, no reinsurance premiums are paid. Expected reimbursement from the reinsurer for claims incurred are recorded as a reduction to claims incurred with a corresponding reinsurance recoverable asset. The tables below present information for the Company's reinsurance arrangements accounted for under reinsurance accounting. Please see Note 2 - Revenue Recognition for total reinsurance premiums ceded and reinsurance premiums assumed, which are included as components of total Premium revenue in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The composition of the Reinsurance recoverable balance on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets is as follows:

The creditworthiness of each reinsurer is evaluated in order to assess counterparty credit risk and estimate an allowance for expected credit losses on the Company's reinsurance recoverable balances.

In the normal course of business, the Company entered into business arrangements with integrated health systems, as well as medical professional corporations that employ health care providers to deliver telemedical healthcare services to its covered member population in various states. The financial results of these entities are consolidated into the Company's financial statements.

The following table presents the collective assets and liabilities of the Company's variable interest entities:

In February 2022, the Company issued the 2031 Notes to funds affiliated with or advised by Dragoneer Investment Group, LLC, Thrive Capital Management, LLC, LionTree Investment Management, LLC and Tenere Capital LLC (collectively, the “Purchasers”). See Note 7 - Debt for additional information.

The Company’s current and past business practices are subject to review or other investigations by various state insurance and healthcare regulatory authorities and other state and federal regulatory authorities. These reviews focus on numerous facets of the Company’s business, including claims payment practices, statutory capital requirements, provider contracting, risk adjustment, competitive practices, commission payments, privacy issues, network adequacy, utilization management practices, pharmacy benefits, access to care, and sales practices, among others. Some of these reviews have historically resulted in fines imposed on the Company and some have required changes to certain of the Company’s practices. The Company continues to be subject to these reviews, which could result in additional fines or other sanctions being imposed on the Company or additional changes to certain of its practices.

The Company is also currently involved in, and may in the future from time to time become involved in, legal proceedings and other claims in the ordinary course of its business, including class actions and suits brought by the Company’s members, providers, commercial counterparties, employees, and other parties relating to the Company’s business, including management and administration of health benefit plans and other services. Such matters can include various employment claims, disputes regarding reinsurance arrangements, disputes relating to intellectual property and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and class action lawsuits, or other claims relating to the performance of contractual and non-contractual obligations to providers, members, employer groups, and others, including, but not limited to, the alleged failure to properly pay in-network and out-of-network claims and challenges to the manner in which the Company processes claims, and claims alleging that the Company has engaged in unfair business practices.

In addition, on May 12, 2022, a securities class action lawsuit against the Company, certain of its directors and officers, and the underwriters that participated in the Company’s initial public offering ("IPO") was commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, captioned Carpenter v. Oscar Health, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:22-CV-03885 (S.D.N.Y.) (the “Securities Action”). The initial complaint in the Securities Action asserted violations of Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act based on the Company’s purported failure to disclose in its IPO registration statement growing COVID-19 testing and treatment costs, the impact of significant Special Enrollment Period membership, and risk adjustment data validation results for 2019 and 2020. By Court orders dated September 27, 2022 and December 13, 2022, the Court appointed a lead plaintiff and lead counsel on behalf of the putative class. An amended complaint filed on December 6, 2022 asserts the same violations of Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act, but this time based on the Company’s alleged failure to disclose in its IPO registration statement purportedly inadequate controls and systems in connection with the risk adjustment data validation audit for 2019, alleging that this purported omission caused losses and damages for members of the putative class. The amended complaint seeks unspecified compensatory damages as well as interest, fees, and costs. On April 4, 2023, the Company moved to dismiss the amended complaint. Briefing on the motion was completed on July 7, 2023. The Company believes it has meritorious defenses to these claims. At this time, the Company cannot predict the outcome, or provide a reasonable estimate or range of estimates of the possible outcome or loss, if any, in this matter.

The Company records liabilities for its reasonable estimates of probable losses resulting from these matters where appropriate. Estimates of losses resulting from legal and regulatory matters involving the Company are inherently difficult to predict, particularly where the matters: involve indeterminate claims for monetary damages or may involve fines, penalties or punitive damages; present novel legal theories or represent a shift in regulatory policy; involve a large number of claimants or regulatory bodies; are in the early stages of the proceedings; or could result in a change in business practices. Accordingly, the Company is often unable to estimate the losses or ranges of losses for those matters where there is a reasonable possibility or it is probable that a loss may be incurred, the ultimate settlement of which could be material.

Given that such proceedings are subject to uncertainty, there can be no assurance that such legal proceedings, either individually or in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on Oscar's business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

On March 28, 2023, the Company’s Co-Founders, Mario Schlosser (the Company’s President of Technology and Chief Technology Officer and former Chief Executive Officer) and Joshua Kushner (the Company’s Vice Chairman), recommended to the Company’s Board of Directors that they should cancel and terminate the applicable awards that were granted to them in connection with the Company’s Initial Public Offering (the “Founders Awards”). This recommendation was made in support of reducing the dilutive effects of equity awards granted on April 3, 2023, to Mark T. Bertolini in connection with his appointment as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, effective April 3, 2023, and the Company’s annual employee equity awards granted in 2023. On March 28, 2023, Mr. Schlosser and Mr. Kushner each entered into an agreement to cancel and terminate his Founders Award, which consisted of performance-based restricted stock units covering 4,229,853 shares (for Mr. Schlosser) and 2,114,926 shares (for Mr. Kushner) of the Company’s Class A common stock. As a result of this cancellation, in March 2023 the Company recognized approximately $46.3 million of accelerated stock-based compensation expense that would have otherwise been recognized over the remaining vesting period of the awards. Stock-based compensation expense is included in the Selling, general and administrative line item on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

We regularly review our Total Revenue, Medical Loss Ratio (“MLR”), Selling, General and Administrative Expense Ratio (“SG&A Expense Ratio”), and Adjusted Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”, a non-GAAP financial metric) to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends in our business, prepare financial projections, and make strategic decisions. We believe these operational and financial measures are useful in evaluating our performance, in addition to our financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Total revenue includes Premium revenue, Investment income, and Services and other revenue. We believe Total revenue is an important metric to assess the growth of our business, as well as the earnings potential of our investment portfolio.

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.

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.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as Net income (loss) for the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries before interest expense, income tax expense (benefit), and depreciation and amortization, as further adjusted for stock-based compensation and other items that are considered unusual or not representative of underlying trends of our business, where applicable for the period presented. We present Adjusted EBITDA because we consider it to be an important supplemental measure of our performance and believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. Management believes that investors’ understanding of our performance is enhanced by including this non-GAAP financial measure as a reasonable basis for comparing our ongoing results of operations.

We caution investors that amounts presented in accordance with our definition of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by our competitors, because not all companies and analysts calculate Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner.

By providing this non-GAAP financial measure, together with a reconciliation to the most comparable U.S. GAAP measure, Net income (loss), we believe we are enhancing investors’ understanding of our business and our results of operations, as well as assisting investors in evaluating how well we are executing our strategic initiatives. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and should not be considered in isolation, or as an alternative to, or a substitute for Net income (loss) or other financial statement data presented in our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements as indicators of financial performance. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA from Net income (loss) is provided under “Results of Operations-Adjusted EBITDA”.

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.

The risk adjustment programs in the markets we serve are administered federally by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and are designed to mitigate the potential impact of adverse selection and provide stability for health insurers. Under this program, each plan is assigned a risk score based upon demographic information and current year claims information related to its members. The risk score is used to adjust plan revenue to reflect the relative risk of the plan's enrolled population. We reevaluate our risk adjustment transfer estimates as new information and market data becomes available until we receive the final reporting from CMS in later periods, up to twelve months in arrears.

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.

Our medical expenses are impacted by seasonal effects of medical costs such as the utilization of deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums over the course of the policy year, which shifts more costs to us in the second half of the year as we pay a higher proportion of covered claims costs, and the number of days and holidays in a given period. Our medical and pharmacy costs can also exhibit seasonality depending on selection effects or changes in the risk profile of our membership and the proportion of our membership that is new in the calendar year. The emergence of medical and pharmacy claims is influenced by the aforementioned drivers, and further mix shifts may continue to alter claims incurred patterns in future periods.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On March 26, 2024, the Company notified Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company that it is not renewing the Cigna+Oscar Small Group arrangement after the expiration of the initial term on December 31, 2024. The parties will continue to offer their Cigna+Oscar Small Group product through December 15, 2024. Additionally, effective December 15, 2024, Oscar will no longer be offering small group products in any market. Refer to Note 1 - Organization - Non-Renewal of Cigna+Oscar Partnership and Exit from the Small Group Market included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for additional information.

Change Healthcare (“CHC”), which provided claims clearinghouse and other services to the Company, experienced a cybersecurity incident on February 21, 2024. At this time, CHC has not notified the Company of any breach of our members’ data.

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. A summary of the Company's significant accounting policies is included in Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Certain of our accounting policies are considered critical, as these policies require significant, difficult or complex judgments by management, often requiring the use of estimates about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain. As of September 30, 2024, there were no significant changes to the critical accounting estimates from what was reported in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.