What UnitedHealthcare is doing in Pennsylvania: a progress report.

I’ve hit the ground running in 2010 and as I round the corner to the end of the first quarter, and wonder how it got here so quickly, I realize I should stop and take a moment to share what’s happening in 2010 at my company, UnitedHealthcare.

We spent a lot of time in 2009 positioning our health plans in local Pennsylvania market and that’s paid off. There is a real focus on affordability and I think our leading position in consumerism has helped as employers look to make sure that employees are thinking about and adapting healthy behaviors. As a commercial enterprise, we continue to invest in practical innovation that leads to improved medical outcomes, better service and lower costs. All of these factors make me very optimistic that UnitedHealthcare will continue to grow its business in the Keystone State.

We are also ramping up our community activities throughout Pennsylvania. I’ve recently told you about our UnitedHealth HEROES program that provides micro grants to local organizations to help fight childhood obesity; our $5,000 UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation grants for child health care treatment, services or equipment not covered or not fully covered by their health insurance benefit plans; and our All-star programs that reward sports fans who improve their own health or the health or others. We also contribute to a number of other charitable causes in Pennsylvania, including the Juvenile Diabetes Association and the March of Dimes.

We will continue to support the efforts of the Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, under Commissioner Joel Ario, to bring competition to Pennsylvania insurance markets. The people of Pennsylvania deserve a more competitive health care marketplace and at UnitedHealthcare, we’re eager to play our part in bringing the benefits of competition to the people of Pennsylvania. UnitedHealth Group does business in every state, and we find that in most states there is a competitive health care marketplace that helps restrain costs. We believe that competition leads to higher quality and more affordable health care and will cooperate in any way possible with the Insurance Commission as it studies the face of competition in the state.