On March 18, 2017, the Harvard Business School team at the Business School Alliance for Health Management (BAHM) case competition took home the first place prize for their presentation on Oscar Health’s potential response to health reform.

BAHM is a consortium of leading MBA programs with a health sector focus. Each year, BAHM launches a case competition at which student teams from each member school compete against one another. This year, students were asked to prepare a case study on a specific healthcare organization and its strategy for responding to the uncertainty of health reform under President Trump. Each team prepared a paper, poster, and PowerPoint presentation, the last of which was delivered on the day of the competition hosted at University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business.

HBS sponsored a team of three students (Mike Lefferts, Tina Liu, and Jonathan Friedlander) who chose to present Oscar Health, the consumer-friendly health insurance startup founded to take advantage of Obamacare’s individual health insurance exchanges. Over the course of several weeks leading up to competition day, the team completed extensive research, including analysis of Obamacare and proposals for Trump reform, as well as diligence on Oscar including a conversation with the CEO. Using a scenario planning approach, the team then distilled key strategies for Oscar that would remain prudent regardless of the eventual outcome of reform.

The team channeled Oscar in their final presentation, keeping audience members entertained with an Oscar-inspired design, light sprinkling of jokes, and more positive-than-expected prognosis for the company (especially if it pursued certain strategies). After two rounds of competition, the team won the first place award for their work, capping off a highly educational and immensely rewarding experience.

The 2018 BAHM competition will take place at University of Miami School of Business Administration and the topic will address the opioid crisis. HBS students interested in competing should form a team of three students and email their names to Frank Sutter: fsutter@hbs.edu