On the ground with East region CEO: An effective strategy is key to containing rising health care costs

Greg Reidy, CEO of the East region for UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual, shares how UnitedHealthcare is helping employers contain costs.

Feb. 21, 2023

Authored by Greg Reidy, CEO of the East region with UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual

Across the country, health care costs continue to escalate at unsustainable rates. And employers in the East region, where I have the privilege of serving, are responding to these rising health care costs in different ways. Some employers are considering adjusting their benefits or shifting costs to employees through higher out-of-pocket maximums and premiums.

But in many ways, these short-term strategies could have unintended impacts. Employees might delay or forgo care, which may lead to higher costs for the employer and poor health outcomes for the employee. A less robust health plan may also influence an employee’s decision to stay with a certain employer or whether to look for a new job — with a different benefits package — elsewhere.

That’s why I feel strongly about the importance of taking a strategic approach to cost management.

Let’s talk cost management in the East

Video transcript

Funky jazz music plays as a man with dark hair greying at his temples smiles. He wears a black suit jacket and red and white checkered shirt. Behind him, bare trees form silhouettes outside a row of windows in an office. As the man speaks, a blue banner appears in the bottom left corner of the view with white text. In the right corner, a small grey version of the UnitedHealthcare logo appears—the letter U with three stripes on its right arm. ONSCREEN TEXT: Greg Reidy CEO, East Region, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual GREG REIDY: The broader economy is putting a lot of pressure on both employers and employees, and as they look to select their health plan or benefits for their employees, they’re having to make really interesting choices. The blue banner disappears as Greg speaks. Now navy text fades onto a white background: ONSCREEN TEXT: Let’s talk cost management

A navy-blue ribbon with three stripes, resembling the UnitedHealthcare logo, winds its way across the white background. The view returns to Greg in the office:

GREG REIDY: Sometimes those choices reduces the benefits and shifts some of the costs to the employees of the company. That can have a real impact on employee satisfaction levels, but really around cost too, because if employees have pressure on their wallet and forego care or delay care, it can lead to longer-term higher costs and worse outcomes.

Now navy text appears on a white background:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Designing health plants to meet employer needs and budgets

As Greg speaks, the view shows two women in a bright office looking at building plans and tablets.

An employee near a laptop in a co-working space while another strides past the glass wall of a

boardroom. As someone writes in a notebook, a blue banner descends with white text inside.

ONSCREEN TEXT: Employers may pay 17% less under a UnitedHealthcare Level Funded plan

Compared to fully

insured plan

White fine print appears below the text: ONSCREEN TEXT: Average savings for UnitedHealthcare Fully Insured groups migrated to UnitedHealthcare

Level Funded, Jan. 1, 2021 – Dec. 31, 2022. Savings are not guaranteed.

Now a man with glasses and a beard nods at a tablet while he sits on a couch. A person working in a coffee shop writes in a folder at the counter, while staff in aprons flip chairs down from tables. In an office building with tall windows, a group of employees talk on a staircase. The view returns to Greg.

GREG REIDY: Now more than ever, employers are needing to select plans that offer the highest value to them and their employees. In East Region, we’re seeing really momentum around our Level Funded plan product and what that is is a program that provides employers with the opportunity to have flexibility and perhaps some savings with reduced risk. In addition, we’re seeing in this period of transparency our Surest product really take off. What this does is provides more information to each of our consumers where they can pursue better outcomes with high-performing providers without impacting their pocketbook.

On a white background, purple text appears in the center: ONSCREEN TEXT: surest™

A person operates a tablet, and a woman works at a laptop in a bright farmhouse-style kitchen. Another woman talks to a healthcare professional on a smartphone, while another person meets with another healthcare professional in person over a desk. Next, navy text appears on a white background:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Building quality-focused, cost-effective networks

Greg continues to speak before the set of windows.

GREG REIDY: We’ve built a lot of different network constructs around East Region. We’ve got

tiered programs, which steer members toward high-performing providers.

Now an orange, teal, and yellow striped background splits into a teal icon of a signpost. Three

signs attached to it show an orange cross in a white speech bubble, a stethoscope, and the letters

“ER.” Next, an outline of the United States appears in navy blue, and orange pins pop up on it like

a map, indicating the locations Greg names.

GREG REIDY: We’ve also had some markets look to narrow networks; we’ve seen that success in

the New York Tri-State area, we’ve seen it in Florida, we’ve seen it in Tennessee. We’re also

seeing our employers ask us for network strategies beyond a traditional network setting. Post

COVID, the need for virtual care increased dramatically. Virtual care helps us meet our members

where they are, and in addition, it can help control costs by avoiding unnecessary visits to the

emergency room or urgent care centers.

A graphic of six circles appear, connecting a healthcare provider wearing a stethoscope to a white cross, an orange heart, the letter “H” to denote a hospital, another healthcare provider in a white coat, an orange map pin, and an empty blue circle. The view zooms into the empty blue circle and transforms into an icon of a yellow hand holding a smartphone than shows a person wearing a stethoscope on the screen. White text appears to the right of the smartphone: ONSCREEN TEXT: Help us meet

our members where they are

New text replaces the previous: ONSCREEN TEXT: Avoid unnecessary

visits to the

emergency room or urgent care

Now navy text appears on the white background once more:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Delivering personalized care at lower costs

The white background wipes away, returning to Greg’s office:

GREG REIDY: We’re working with high-performing providers to develop a personalized care plan

to provide the most value and also the best outcome for the members that we serve. Our special

needs initiative also helps those families with very complex conditions navigate the system and

connect with our high-performing providers.

A woman talking on the phone carries a baby, and a man helps a child stir something in a pot on

a stove. An adult and a little girl use sign language, then blue text returns to the white

background:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Supporting employees every step of the way

A blue background wipes across, with white text in the center:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Value-added programs

GREG REIDY: Across the East Region, we continue to invent value-added programs like Benefit

Ally, Care Cash, and the UnitedHealthcare Rewards program.

As Greg names the programs, they appear beside orange checkmarks on a blue background:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Benefit Ally™ Care Cash®

UnitedHealthcare Rewards

GREG REIDY: What this really does is provide our members with the ability to manage their costs

more effectively, and also navigate the system in a way where they have first-dollar coverage for

some of the benefits.

Gold coin icons appear on the blue background, then transform into dots on a highway before

resembling connect-the-dots beneath white text:

ONSCREEN TEXT: First-dollar coverage

Greg speaks in his office:

GREG REIDY: In East Region we have very different regulatory requirements but what I

love about the opportunity in front of us to serve different constituencies is that

UnitedHealthcare has built many different products and tools for employers no matter what

geography that they’re in.

On the white background, navy-blue text pops on one word at a time:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Cost management that meets the moment

New blue text appears in a sans serif font:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Talk to your broker, consultant, or UnitedHealthcare representative to learn more.

The UnitedHealthcare logo appears: a stylized, navy-blue letter U that splits into three

stripes on the right-hand side. As the jazzy music concludes, the logo transforms into blue text:

ONSCREEN TEXT: United Healthcare

Black fine print appears beneath the blue text:

ONSCREEN TEXT: Insurance coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare Insurance

Company or its affiliates. Administrative services provided by United Healthcare Services, Inc. or their affiliates.

Administrative services provided by United HealthCare Services, Inc. or their affiliates, and UnitedHealthcare Service LLC in NY. Stop-loss insurance is underwritten by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or their affiliates, including UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Company in NJ, and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York in NY.

©2023 United Healthcare Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 22-1861751-P 2/23

B2B EI232081454

Leveraging a variety of plan and network designs

At UnitedHealthcare, we can leverage a variety of plan and network designs to meet the cost needs of employers — and our markets have done a great job of trying different plans and networks. Here are a few examples where we’re seeing momentum in the East region:

Surest, a UnitedHealthcare company, is gaining traction in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Tennessee, which features:

No deductibles or coinsurance
Access to the broad UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus network
The ability to check costs and compare options for providers, treatments and drugs before making an appointment
The opportunity to make more informed health care choices

Across the East region, we’re seeing increasing adoption of UnitedHealthcare Level Funded plans, which feature:

Stop-loss insurance to mitigate risk
A potential for a surplus refund ¹
A third-party claims administrative agreement

In the South and throughout the Gulf states, tiered networks are finding a foothold. These are characterized by:

A broad range of provider choices
An acknowledgment of the importance of the patient-provider relationship
The ability to make more informed choices (by making it advantageous for employers to choose providers associated with better results and lower costs) ²

Leaning into effective clinical strategies

In the East region, we’re increasingly realizing how critical clinical strategies are to reducing employer costs. At UnitedHealthcare, we work with Optum — our sister company — to help employees see more value from their benefits package. For instance, by using data and insights, we can proactively identify employees at risk for certain conditions and help point employees toward the right care, in the right place, at the right cost. Even just encouraging the use of cost-effective sites of care — for example, ambulatory surgery centers versus hospital settings — has the potential to lower costs for employers and can also promote better health outcomes for employees.

Boosting employee engagement element

Getting employees engaged in their own health is another way employers in the East region are helping manage their health care costs over the long-term. At UnitedHealthcare, we help employers get their workforce engaged through programs like UnitedHealthcare Rewards, which incentivizes healthy behaviors that may lead to better health outcomes. Not only does this program increase employee engagement, it can also benefit the employer through less absenteeism and higher productivity.³

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Footnotes

Average savings for UnitedHealthcare Fully Insured groups migrating to All Savers for CY2020 and CY 2021.
Employer strategies to reduce health costs and improve quality through network configuration. Peterson Center on Healthcare and Kaiser Family Foundation, Sept. 25, 2019.
Increase Productivity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/model/control-costs/benefits/productivity.html

Surest: Insurance coverage for fully insured plans is provided by All Savers Insurance Company (for FL, GA, OH, UT and VA) or by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company (for AZ, AR, MI, MN, MO, OK, PA, SC and TN). These policies have exclusions, limitations, and terms under which the policy may be continued in force or discontinued. For costs and complete details of the coverage, contact either your broker or the company. Administrative services for insurance products underwritten by All Savers Insurance Company and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, and for self-funded plans, are provided by Bind Benefits, Inc. d/b/a Surest, its affiliate United HealthCare Services, Inc., or by Bind Benefits, Inc. d/b/a Surest Administrators Services, in CA. Stop loss insurance for level-funded plans is underwritten by United Healthcare Insurance Company.

UnitedHealthcare Level Funded: Administrative services provided by United HealthCare Services, Inc. or their affiliates, and UnitedHealthcare Service LLC in NY. Stop-loss insurance is underwritten by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or their affiliates, including UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Company in NJ, and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York in NY.

UnitedHealthcare Fully Insured and Self-funded: Insurance coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or its affiliates. Administrative services provided by United HealthCare Services, Inc. or their affiliates.