Oscar Health Inc. (Oscar), the first health insurance company built on a full-stack technology platform, recently announced this year's grantees for its program, completing the second edition of this initiative.

Mario Schlosser, Co-Founder and CEO, stated:

We are very thrilled to acknowledge this year’s Culturally Competent Care Program recipients for the incredible work they’re doing. 

Oscar defines culturally competent care “as the provision of care for patients with diverse values, beliefs, and behaviors, including provision tailored to meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients.”

The company highlights that it is often the lack of culturally competent care options in the U.S. that leads to negative health outcomes for diverse communities.

“At Oscar, we share their commitment to making healthcare both affordable and accessible to all, especially to those in underserved communities,” added Schlosser.

Each of the recipients, chosen after careful consideration among dozens of organizations, will receive a $50,000 grant in 2022.

The 3 organizations, with culturally competent care, are:

1. Bexa Equity Alliance: Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, BEA's mission is to provide an effective breast cancer early detection solution designed specifically for diverse and forgotten women in all communities. By providing Bexa breast exams and POC ultrasound from community locations like churches, BEA is engaging women who have never participated in early detection before. The BEA provides an effective solution in younger women, which is particularly critical for African-American women who must begin screening at age 35.

2. Light of the World Clinic: Based in Broward County, FL, is a volunteer-based medical clinic that provides access to free holistic healthcare and medical treatment services to diverse and uninsured communities of color in Broward.

3. Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP): Based in Los Angeles, CA, WRRAP ensures that financially-disadvantaged individuals of all ages, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, gender identities, and sexual orientations, across all states, can access abortion care and emergency contraception.

These grants are part of Oscar's Culturally Competent Care Program that launched in 2021 to close the care and accessibility gaps that have historically plagued diverse communities.

Through this program, Oscar leverages its members' expertise and technology tools to help people find culturally competent and responsive care.

This includes:

• Collection of race, ethnicity, gender, and language data from providers to support member preferences and network appropriateness.
• Creating member experience initiatives designed to improve health care satisfaction and outcomes.
• Making it easier to earn NCQA's Multicultural Health Care (MHC) Distinction in California.

In addition to providing financial support to grant recipients, Oscar, founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York, also offers support and consultation for organizations to build deep community relationships in areas where the firm has a presence.