‘You empower people and I love that’: How Surest offers greater value for one family
Saving money on care with Surest
Aaron Hager of Green Bay, Wisconsin will tell you he’s skeptical by nature. He’s never too quick to jump into a big life decision. Take his goldendoodle, Griffin, for example. At first, he wasn’t sure about getting a dog, but now he’ll admit it was one of the best decisions of his life.
Switching to Surest® was a similar experience for Aaron. While it didn’t come with long walks and puppy kisses — he’ll admit he had the same hesitation in making the change.
“When you’re introduced to something new, a lot of times I’ve found it wasn’t quite as good as they said or it wasn’t quite what I thought I was getting,” Aaron said. “That’s just not the case with Surest. Everything right down the line has been exactly as it was represented to me. That, in itself, is a surprise.”
What makes Surest different?
Surest®, a UnitedHealthcare health plan, offers a different approach to health benefits. No more waiting for the bill to show up to figure out how much you owe for a doctor or hospital visit. Members know the price in advance, using a simple app that shows actual costs upfront with no deductible.
Surest members can use the app to identify providers that have a track record of delivering effective, cost-efficient care and can comparison shop for healthcare the same way they do for other everyday purchases. Surest members who shopped for more than half of their care had 27% lower costs than members who shopped less often.
How Surest helps you financially plan ahead for care
Aaron and his wife Amy began exploring their healthcare options during open enrollment when they knew they would both need knee replacements. Surest helped give them information to know what to expect for those surgeries.
“You go to a grocery store and there’s all kinds of things you can look at on a label that tell you what you’re getting,” Aaron said. “Healthcare didn’t used to be like that. Surest is a huge step forward to what is my value? Why would I pay more to go to this provider or why is this a better bargain to go to this provider?”
With Surest, Aaron and Amy could see Care Ratings, and clear, upfront costs before scheduling care.
“You empower people and I love that,” Aaron said.
Amy, like her husband, was skeptical at first.
“It sounded at the beginning too good to be true,” she said. “When my husband told me about the app, I said this can’t possibly be. And I just started looking up everything. The thing that I love is that I can have an answer just like that. It’s at the tip of my fingers.”
How price transparency can lead to health care cost savings
The couple quickly learned the savings were real. Under their previous high-deductible plan, they expected to pay thousands of dollars in deductibles, plus coinsurance. With Surest, each knee surgery was hundreds of dollars less out of pocket.1
“This was not two bucks here and there,” Amy said. “This was like ‘real money in your pocket’ savings.”
Even physical therapy added up to more savings — less than $50 per visit.1
“Just having that peace of mind that I know what it’s going to cost … that’s been absolutely great,” Aaron said. “It really makes a difference for us and it’s really helped.”
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