The one big question surrounding Oscar Health ahead of its IPO

Hello, 

Today in healthcare news: The one big question surrounding Oscar Health as it gears up for its IPO, BridgeBio gets its first FDA approval, and how retailers are changing their plans to take on the healthcare industry. 

One giant question is swirling around the IPO of hot health insurer Oscar: Can the startup ever make money?

• Insurance startup Oscar Health is going public at a valuation of $8 billion.
• Oscar has been plagued by heavy losses totaling $1.4 billion, because it’s struggled to tame administrative and healthcare costs.
• Some experts said Oscar may find opportunity in Medicare Advantage or selling its software.

Read the full analysis from Shelby Livingston here>>

A new kind of biotech upstart inspired by a top MIT finance professor received a crucial validation, and rivals are now copying its strategy. BridgeBio’s CEO says it’s just getting started.

• The FDA approved BridgeBio’s first drug, for a disease that affects 100 children in the US and Europe.
• BridgeBio mitigates risk with a “hub-and-spoke” model, with a central management team and subsidiaries.
• The model is gaining in popularity in biopharma and could reshape drug R&D, McKinsey & Co. says.

Read the full story from Allison DeAngelis here>>

How companies like Walmart and Best Buy have curtailed their ambitions to upend the $3.8 trillion healthcare industry

• America's biggest retail chains have been pushing into healthcare with mixed results.
• The pandemic has cemented the shift into healthcare for some retailers, while others have slowed their efforts.
• Here's how healthcare strategies from CVS Health, Walgreens, Walmart, and Kroger have played out.

Read the full story from Patricia Kelly Yeo here>>

More stories we're reading:

• Why Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine is probably the best shot (Insider)
• A Marshall Project survey found out how people who are incarcerated feel about vaccines (The Marshall Project)
• 67 Black CEOs and executives - including execs from Walmart Health, UnitedHealth Group, and Humana - share their experiences in corporate America (Insider)
• Why vaccines delivered through the nose might be key to beating COVID-19 (Scientific American)

- Lydia