The Pulse from UnitedHealthcare: Making improvements based on your feedback
John Terry, National Vice President of Small Business, shares how UnitedHealthcare is working to make strides to improve the member experience for small business employees.
John Terry, National Vice President, Small Business, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual
Small business owners know that offering quality health benefits isn't just about attracting talent — it's about caring for their teams while managing their bottom line. As the national vice president of small business at UnitedHealthcare, I know this because I am privileged to work with small businesses every day, learning about the challenges they face and helping them work toward solutions.
While each of the 200K+ small businesses that we work with is unique,1 they share similarities when it comes to the roadblocks they and their employees face when it comes to benefits — and some of the most common are unsustainable health costs and network disruptions.
Unsustainable health costs
The rising cost of health care, for instance, continues to be a hardship for employers and employees. We know that employees of small businesses struggle with out-of-pocket costs. In the conversations we’re having, we’re learning that they feel that the premiums aren’t reasonable, given the coverage they receive, and this may lead them to defer or delay care, as well as lead to dissatisfaction with their benefits.
We’re working to meet these challenges by building more value into the benefits employers already offer their employees — for instance, offering vital medications for $0 or $0 copays for 24/7 Virtual Visits.2 For employees of small businesses who offer a fully insured plan, Care Cash® — a preloaded debit card with up to $500 for family coverage, can be used to help pay toward cost-sharing for eligible network health care expenses and may help lessen the impact of rising costs.
We are also working to create greater transparency over health care costs. For instance, next year we’re excited to launch our Surest® health plan for small businesses. Surest is a revolutionary, copay-only plan, which offers its members the ability to check and compare actual costs, not estimates, in advance in an intuitive digital experience — and has proven success in reducing member costs.3
Our cost estimator tools, which are available through the UnitedHealthcare® app and on myuhc.com®, may help employees better understand what they may have to pay for out-of-pocket for services, such as office visits, tests, imaging, screenings and vaccines. What’s exciting is that we’re seeing these tools find traction: 49% of members who used cost estimator tools received health care services at a below-average cost in 20234 — and we expect that percentage to keep climbing.
Network disruptions
It’s understandably frustrating when employees are unable to see their preferred providers — and it’s something we know happens due to changes in networks. Even though UnitedHealthcare maintains the single largest proprietary network of more than 1.7M providers and 5K+ hospitals5 and maintains a national pharmacy network of 68K+ pharmacies, including leading retail chains and grocery stores,6 there are still hiccups that can occur.
Rest assured that we are committed to resolving these issues, and our exemplary digital experience through the UnitedHealthcare app and myuhc.com, can help support members as they search for providers. Through the app, members have 24/7 access to their health information, which allows them to search for quality providers whenever and wherever they want. And when extra support is needed, we have Advocacy solutions that can step in. These compassionate, empathetic Advocates, accessible via chat or telephonically, are there to provide data-backed support that can make a difference for your employees, bringing a more streamlined and simplified benefits experience.
At the end of the day, we know that business owners are really attuned to their employee populations. They want to offer the best benefits they can afford while also making sure that their employees aren’t having issues accessing or affording the care and benefits that they need. We’re committed to helping our small businesses in that endeavor through simple, affordable and supportive health plans that are only getting better and better.
