United Healthcare

tonnias · September 2007

I'm looking for feedback related to United Healthcare. My organization is considering one of their plans, but I have read a couple of negative articles and wanted to know if others had a good or bad experience with them. Thanks!

TKS @ CCL

srallen · September 2007

While we've haven't used them at my work, I've heard from others that they like their plans. You might ask your broker or whomever you are using to negotiate the plan to give you 2 or 3 references that you can call to ask about the plan. I've had calls from potential clients of some of our benefit plans.

IT HR · September 2007

I have used UHC in the past and been happy with them, but one thing to consider is the network. When I came to the company I currently work for I considered switching from what they currently had (Blue Cross Blue Shield) to UHC. When I started looking at the doctors that the employees were currently using, many of them were not in the network. After all said and done, what looked like a better option for the employees really wasn't as most would have to use the out-of-network benefits or change doctors to stay in the network.

holein1 · September 2007

I agree, the network is definitely the most important, or you will have many unhappy employees and sometimes more problems.

Candycane · September 2007

UHC was doing great years ago but for the last couple of years many providers have started dropping out of their network. Our broker also stated that it has been difficult to get answers from them when issues arise. If you Google them - I believe there also very recently was a suit brought out against them for a very large sum of money that they are required to pay out.

hkh70 · September 2007

We have recently reviewed a proposal from UHC as well. We are currently with BCBS. UHC had great tools and appeared to be competitive. However, we have a very distributed workforce throughout the country, and although they appeared to be working on their network, there were many areas that they could not service or at least had few providers in certain geographic areas. They profess to be working on their network and may be a contender in the future if they are able to get past that. We have employees who have had UHC in the past and loved them, but they were located in an area where UHC had a significant network.

dhall111 · September 2007

I've been with UHC for 10+ years. Their network is very good in many places, but if you have pockets of employees in remote locations the network may not be as good.

UHC has been great until this past year or two. All of a sudden our employees have been inundated with subrogation forms and student status forms. Not just once or twice, but for every doc visit. And their customer service to employees isn't as great as it used to be.

HRforME · October 2007

We've had UHC for almost 2 years. The first renewal was a 12% increase that we managed to bring to a 2% increase by increasing the deductible and copays. This renewal that we just received was a 24% increase! OUCH! We might be able to increase the deductible even more and bring that down. But our broker is out shopping for us.

Our network of doctors has not been a issue, but we have had an issue with the 'coordination of benefits' flag due to the fact that the enrollment system will not allow you to enter it. It is automatically set at yes and the employees must respond negatively when they make their first claim or it will be rejected. It has happened also where the employee/dependents were covered under a different employer plan, but came onto our plan through UHC and dropped the other coverage. Their system must flag multiple records with the same SSN.

Otherwise service has been good. I just don't know that we won't have to switch away because of the 24% increase.

rowelouis · October 2007

Network and referral requirements can be an issue. Are you looking at an HMO type or PPO? What have you had in the past and what changes in employee responsibilities will occur?

MOTORCHECK · October 2007

First I know I may sound cynical but we have had a rough go with this company with our company and came from PHCS tuffs which were just fantastic in every way so here is what we have experienced.

Stay as far away from United Health Care "UHC" as you can. They have a broken system they dont wish to fix, read any blog on all the state suites against them if you dont believe me, and their are a lot of states and cities suing them. They are the worse of the worse in every way. They have terrible customer service their claims department is arrogant and have no room for discussion when it comes to looking at claims everything is black or white no gray area with them.

traveladysc · October 2007

We currently have a PPO with Blue Cross and Blue Sheild, but our annual rate increases have been huge. We are considering an HSA, which means more responsiblity on the employee's part and more out of pocket money for them as well. United Health Care was recommeded by a local agent, but I wanted to get some feedback from others who may have had a relationship with them. Thanks for your input.

Chrissy1 · October 2007

I am a fan of PHCS. They have good network doctors, with the PPO option the fees are higher, but the employees are satisfied with the care they get and the open choices they have. It is worth it to most of them to pay the higher fees to get better, uncomplicated care.

Dirtrell · December 2007

The employer that I'm currently with used UHC until about three years ago. It was a hassle for most of our employees because we are located in a small state. We switched to CIGNA and our employees love it. Most of their doctors were part of the network already so they did not have to worry about finding a new doctor. Also the rates were reasonable.

TXHRGuy · December 2007

My experiences as a UHC participant have been quite good. However, as an employer with a smaller company, we were pulled in my good price:benefit but they launched our rates into the stratosphere the following year.

United Healthcare

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