Heath Insurance

hrlady1

I am located in PA and am at the beginning of negotiating our health insurance contract for next year.  Can any of you tell me if you are using United Healthcare and how that is working for you?

My biggest concern is the network.  Although our corporate center is in PA, we also have employees in NY, VA and NC.  I want to make sure they also have a viable network.

 

HRforME

We have been with UHC for 2006-2008. Each year their rates have increased in high double digits (24% the first renewal alone). Unfortunately due to these increases we have to change carriers this year. We found BlueCrossBlueShield has as good of a dr network and better coverage for a lower cost.

I don't know about UHC's network in the NE.  I am in Texas and in a metro area and I have yet to find an issue with the network.

I do like their online employer system for reporting changes/paying bills etc.  I have had really good luck with their customer service.  The only real negative has been an issue with coordination of benefit flags...and that is more due to the fact that employees ignore letters from UHC asking for information on possible double coverage.

I would stay if the prices hadn't increased beyond my tolerance level.

HRPOB

We have also been with UHC since 2006. And like HRforMe, we have had double digit increases. Last year our premiums went up 27%. We are located in rural Missouri and have no issue with availablity of doctors and hospitals. Aside from the premiums we have been very satisfied with UHC. We are also shopping new carriers for 2009.

IT HR

I have used UHC in the past. One of the biggest reasons we switched from UHC to anothr carrier was because of the network.  UHC seems to have a good network around the cities and larger towns but if you are in a rural area they seemed to not have a good network and in some areas there was not even 1 doctor in the area in the network. 

When I wanted to switch insurance plans I went to a group of employees (all living in different areas) and found out who their primary care physician was.  I had my broker look at the insurance company we were considering to see if these doctors were in the network.  If a bunch of them are not then it probably isn't the best option for your employees.

TXHRGuy

I advise against using BCBS if you are a multistate employer.  If all your employees are in a single state, you should be OK.  Their setup and billing practices make them a very poor choice for multistate operations.

 

I've done the monster rate hike dance with UHC as well.  There are a lot of other good carriers out there.