A health plan that can drive lower costs and better experiences

Fatigue in finding a health plan that satisfies employee needs and the employer’s bottom line. Anxiety that stems from employee confusion over costs, ranging from physician visits to prescriptions. Discouragement in trying to search for a health plan that bridges the gap between quality care and lower costs.

These are some of the challenges and frustrations employers are faced with when evaluating health plan options. But Surest, a UnitedHealthcare company, offers a different experience. 

Employees increasingly want their interactions with the health care system to mimic their experience shopping online.¹ The ability to easily compare prices and choose the best option based on their own budgets have become critically important.

Employers have started taking note. When Cache County School District first began offering Surest to its employees, the initial goal was to help curb health care costs while retaining provider choice and the quality of benefits for its employees.

Not only did this decision reduce costs for Cache County School District and its employees, but it also delivered a simpler, more consumer-centric experience that was more in line with other consumer experiences.²

"The Surest digital interface is the best health care platform we have ever encountered," said Cache County School District Human Resources director Kirk McRae. "A primary objective of any health plan is to give ownership of choices to the covered members. Surest does this in a way other plans cannot; it allows members to make significant choices in the application of their health benefits.”

Other companies such as Slumberland, a regional retailer, have seen similar results.³

Operating in an industry in which employee turnover can be especially acute, Slumberland was seeking a health plan that would help in attracting and retaining talent until they found the answer in Surest. Since then, Slumberland Senior Benefits Manager Lisa Tepley has been inundated with positive feedback.

“We have been absolutely thrilled with our experience and the employee experience. When is the last time your employees thanked you for the medical plan? We can honestly say we hear it often, which benefit professionals know is rare,” Tepley says.

Lumen, a multinational company with 30,000 employees, has also heard positive feedback from its employees enrolled in the Surest plan.⁴

When Lumen was shopping for new health plans to add to its portfolio, the team wanted a technology-powered health plan that would enable employees to make more informed health care decisions. The company appreciated how the Surest app provides employees with the information they need to make quality-driven, cost-effective decisions. And that sentiment was shared by many of the Lumen employees who enrolled in Surest, with 62% saying the health plan has helped make them healthier.⁴

While it may be tempting for some employers to consider shifting costs to their employees to mitigate rising health care costs and other economic pressures, many companies are finding that health plans like Surest are helping to reduce costs while also putting money back into employees’ pockets.⁵

Boston Market, a fast-casual restaurant chain, was looking to gain control over its rising health care costs but didn’t want to increase premiums or out-of-pocket maximums. Upon learning about the $0 deductible and broad national provider network offered via Surest, the company decided to replace its existing plan.

This switch resulted in 11% lower costs per member per month than a comparison group.⁶ A major contributor to these savings came from the transparency and price clarity Surest provided to its employees.

“Surest provides great coverage at a lower cost for both our employees and the company,” according to the Boston Market Human Resources director. “The plan is straightforward. Employees know the costs upfront, and they spend less than they were previously spending.”

From an employee lens, those enrolled in Surest at Slumberland saved 33% annually in out-of-pocket expenses.³

Cache County School District employees on the Surest plan experienced an average of 55% out-of-pocket savings, which likely accounts for the positive feedback the Human Resources director has received.² “Surest is the only health plan that has generated explicit support from employees,” McRae said. “We have been told on several occasions that we cannot take this benefit away from our employees.”

Cache County also reduced its own costs by 14% per member per month,² while Lumen experienced 16% lower costs per member per month for employees who joined the Surest plan in 2021.⁴ Lumen employees weren’t left out of the mix either. Lumen employees enrolled in Surest cut their out-of-pocket costs in half, saving an average of 52%.⁴

Learn more about how other employers are finding reduced costs with Surest.