Building more trusted health care experiences
Explore how employers can boost workforce trust with benefits that offer cost clarity, transparency and more intuitive, choice-driven experiences.
When employers offer their workforce health benefits, they are making a promise, as well as a financial commitment. The promise is that when someone on the team or the team’s family faces a health challenge, the benefits secured for that person will actually work.
Employers who get benefits right — who choose a health plan that genuinely works for their people — are seeing the results where it counts most: a workforce that feels supported, engages with their benefits and trusts that their employer has their back. That connection between benefits quality and employee trust is becoming one of the clearest differentiators in how organizations attract and retain talent.
What drives that trust or erodes it often comes down to the specifics of what employees experience firsthand: what their cost-share or premium looks like and what it feels like to use their benefits and navigate claims. Those same factors shape some of the most consequential decisions employers face when designing benefits, such as how much cost-share to ask employees to absorb, which plan to select and how the carrier they select manages claims and prior authorization processes, which can make or break an employee’s experience.
The fact that only 30% of commercial health plan members said they trusted their health plan in 2025, according to the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study,1 is a clear signal that employers and carriers must work together to build health plans and benefits strategies that better serve employees and their families.
Bringing more clarity, confidence and trust to health care
Transparency is the foundation on which trust is built. But for it to mean anything to employees, it can’t live only in plan documents or enrollment guides — it has to show up in every interaction, every decision and every moment in an employee’s health care journey. UnitedHealthcare has made transparency a structural commitment, embedding it across its full member experience through a range of tools, programs and plan designs that give employees the clarity and confidence they need to make informed decisions.
“Transparency in health care isn’t just about disclosing costs, it’s about giving people the information and support they need to actually trust the system they’re navigating,” says Amy Jordan, vice president of consumer engagement for UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual. “When members feel informed and supported, they make better decisions, engage more with their care and may ultimately get better outcomes.”
1. Greater cost clarity
One of the most direct expressions of transparency is a plan that eliminates financial uncertainty before care is received. According to the UnitedHealthcare 2026 Health Trends Report, one-third of large employers now offer copay-driven plan designs as a standalone or complementary option, up from just 10% in 20232 — a sign that more organizations are recognizing what employees and their families have long needed.
Surest® is a health plan built around exactly that principle: actual copays, not estimates, with no deductible. Members see exactly what they will pay for a visit or procedure before they schedule it, removing the guesswork that leads so many employees to delay or avoid care altogether. When costs are embedded into the plan design itself, transparency stops being a feature and becomes the foundation for smarter health care decisions.
2. More informed care decisions
Choosing a provider used to mean relying on word-of-mouth recommendations or basic directory listings. UnitedHealthcare now offers members access to more information when they are searching for providers, so they can make more-informed decisions about where to receive care.
Through the UnitedHealthcare® app and myuhc.com®, employees can search for network providers that are prioritized and given a Smart Choice score based on quality and cost data as well as personal preferences. In addition, members can estimate costs before scheduling and review their benefits in plain language at any time. These tools shift the member experience from reactive to proactive, helping to reduce confusion, which is one of the primary drivers of dissatisfaction.
3. Fewer steps to faster answers
Prior authorization has long been a source of member frustration — and a flashpoint for distrust. UnitedHealthcare has simplified the experience and made it easier to track the status of requests within the UnitedHealthcare app and myuhc.com. A significant and growing share of prior authorization requests are now handled through automated approvals, reducing wait times from days to seconds for many common procedures. For many employees and their families, this means faster answers and greater certainty about whether care will be covered — before they ever step into a provider’s office. When clinical review is required, UnitedHealthcare teams work alongside members and their providers to help ensure decisions reflect the full picture of a member’s health needs, with built-in safeguards designed to reduce unnecessary denials and support timely care.
4. Support available at every turn
For many questions, employees no longer need to wait in a queue to get answers to simple inquiries. Avery, UnitedHealthcare's AI companion, is available through the UnitedHealthcare app and myuhc.com to help members navigate to the right next steps. Whether they need to understand their benefits coverage, learn about available offerings or determine when a more personalized conversation is in order, Avery surfaces relevant information and connects members to appropriate resources — making the experience feel less like navigating a system and more like having a knowledgeable ally in their corner.
When situations call for more, UnitedHealthcare Advocates are there — real people who serve as a single point of contact, trained to help members navigate their benefits, resolve issues and get answers. Whether an employee is trying to understand a bill, find a network specialist or work through a prior authorization, Advocates cut through complexity and deliver clear, actionable guidance for the moments that require a more compassionate human touch. The result: more satisfying and trusted health care experiences.
5. Protection from billing surprises for members and employers
One of the most persistent sources of member distrust occurs when there is an error or unexpected cost related to how a claim was processed. UnitedHealthcare Payment Integrity programs address this directly by helping ensure claims are processed accurately, billing errors are caught before they reach members and safeguards are in place to reduce costs across the system.
While 98% of claims are approved by UnitedHealthcare,7 those that aren’t are typically due to duplicate claims, untimely submissions or missing information. For these instances, UnitedHealthcare works with the provider to rectify any submission issues.
Another common billing challenge arises when members receive unexpected out-of-network balance bills. Programs like Naviguard help members navigate and resolve these situations, providing support through what can often be a confusing process. The result is a better experience that helps protect both member and employer dollars by helping ensure neither pays more than they should.
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