Here’s something that’s really cool!
Ever been away from home and needed a doctor and you didn't know where to go? Now all you have to do is get on your iPhone and look at a list of doctors, hospitals, clinics and other health care services all over the country. It’s all at your fingertips with the newest iPhone App, DocGPS.
You may be asking why a blog on health care and health insurance would talk about a new iPhone App. It’s because UnitedHealthcare is involved: The new DocGPS App for Apple Inc.'s popular mobile device enables users to tailor their search to their specific health plan and locate nearby doctors, clinics and hospitals within the UnitedHealthcare network using the GPS functionality of iPhone 3G and 3GS.
The App can make searches on 23 types of health care facilities and 58 types of physician specialties. After locating a doctor or hospital, the application can then show the office location on a map, provide detailed directions, and enable the user to call the medical professional or facility with a single tap on the search result.
DocGPS is ideal for individuals on the road who are not familiar with health care providers in their area, such as families traveling on vacation or professionals on business trips.
DocGPS also works with first-generation iPhones running 2.0 software or higher, enabling users to search UnitedHealthcare's health plan networks by zip code, or city and state. The application is available for download free of charge from the App Store on iPhone or at itunes.com.
I think the DocGPS App puts a powerful tool in the hands of consumers so that they can make more informed health care decisions whether they are at home, at work or on the run.
DocGPS is UnitedHealthcare's latest consumer-friendly innovation to modernize, simplify and make transparent health care information. An October 2009 study by CTIA-The Wireless Association showed nearly eight in 10 Americans (78 percent) said they are interested in receiving health care services via their mobile devices.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
A new survey says that we may be able to reduce about half of the growth in health care costs.
Working for an insurance company, a lot of interesting surveys come across my desk. Here’s one that’s really mind-boggling from the Lewin Group.
Lewin Group researchers looked at data from the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is a US federal agency which administers Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. They were trying to figure out what specific factors led to the annual increases in the cost of health care in the United States.
The bad news is that they found 51% of health care inflation to be uncontrollable because it resulted from general inflation (32%), the aging of the population (5%) and other demographic factors (13%). There is really nothing that we can do about any of these factors.
The good news is that Lewin researchers found that 49% of health care cost increases resulted from excess utilization of medical resources (19%) and excess medical inflation (30%), which is inflation in medical services that goes beyond normal inflation.
That means that we have a real opportunity to make significant inroads against health care inflation by introducing new programs and concepts that reduce medical inflation and excess use of health care resources.
Much of the innovation in health insurance recently has been directed at least in part at one or both of these two challenges. Some examples:
• Pill-splitting, mail order pharmacies and use of generic drugs all work against inflation in drug prices.
• Disease management programs ensure that patients get the right care they need.
• Closed networks bring down the cost of medical care.
• The high deductible-health savings account (HSA) combination tends to create consumers who are more savvy about and involved with their health care decisions.
But there is so much more that we can do to reduce the impact of excess medical inflation and excess utilization on health care costs. For example, I’ve mentioned several times that we wrote two white papers last year in which we proposed a number of very doable innovations that would cut over $500 billion in health care costs over the next 10 years without sacrificing any quality of care whatsoever. Now that would take a big chunk out of health care cost inflation.
Lewin Group researchers looked at data from the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is a US federal agency which administers Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. They were trying to figure out what specific factors led to the annual increases in the cost of health care in the United States.
The bad news is that they found 51% of health care inflation to be uncontrollable because it resulted from general inflation (32%), the aging of the population (5%) and other demographic factors (13%). There is really nothing that we can do about any of these factors.
The good news is that Lewin researchers found that 49% of health care cost increases resulted from excess utilization of medical resources (19%) and excess medical inflation (30%), which is inflation in medical services that goes beyond normal inflation.
That means that we have a real opportunity to make significant inroads against health care inflation by introducing new programs and concepts that reduce medical inflation and excess use of health care resources.
Much of the innovation in health insurance recently has been directed at least in part at one or both of these two challenges. Some examples:
• Pill-splitting, mail order pharmacies and use of generic drugs all work against inflation in drug prices.
• Disease management programs ensure that patients get the right care they need.
• Closed networks bring down the cost of medical care.
• The high deductible-health savings account (HSA) combination tends to create consumers who are more savvy about and involved with their health care decisions.
But there is so much more that we can do to reduce the impact of excess medical inflation and excess utilization on health care costs. For example, I’ve mentioned several times that we wrote two white papers last year in which we proposed a number of very doable innovations that would cut over $500 billion in health care costs over the next 10 years without sacrificing any quality of care whatsoever. Now that would take a big chunk out of health care cost inflation.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Why UnitedHealthcare decided to put together a special health insurance plan for diabetics and pre-diabetics.
Disease-management programs have traditionally focused on complications for people already known to have diabetes. With the new Diabetes Health Plan that UnitedHealthcare has just started offering we are targeting a much bigger segment of the population. Our objective is to slow the progression of the disease for people with diabetes, and in as many cases as possible to reverse the condition for people in the pre-diabetes stage.
We’re offering a special health insurance plan for diabetics and pre-diabetics for two reasons:
1. To provide better care to diabetics and pre-diabetics
2. To save employers and employees money.
A decades-long epidemic of obesity in the U.S. is a major reason for the sharply rising numbers of diabetic and pre-diabetic adult Americans. Diagnoses of people with diabetes increased by 13.5 percent between 2005 and 2007, with 1.6 million new cases reported in 2007 alone, according to the ADA.
The key to our program is to engage individuals as soon as possible and design personalized, specific self-management steps for them that can decrease the odds they will move into higher-cost categories of treatment. For example, research shows that a typical person in the pre-diabetic group who reduces body weight by 7 percent through activities such as adopting better eating habits or walking 150 minutes per week reduces the risk of becoming diabetic by 58 percent.
There is a massive, untapped opportunity for millions of American who have pre-diabetes diagnoses to stop, and perhaps even reverse, the progress of the disease before its too late. By encouraging people to take the right preventive steps, with clear incentives including lower out-of-pocket costs, we can help people improve the quality of their lives.
UnitedHealthcare anticipates that increased preventive steps by Diabetes Health Plan participants can also help lower health care costs for employers and employees. Total estimated annual cost of a diabetic is greater than $22,000 a year, which is 13-times higher than the average cost of a “healthy” employee (defined as an individual with no chronic disease), according to UnitedHealthcare data.
The cost of diabetes to the U.S. economy has increased 32 percent since 2002, or $8 billion a year, reaching $174 billion in 2007, according to estimates by the ADA. The disease also takes a significant toll on the resources of the U.S. health care system. One out of every five health care dollars is spent caring for someone with diagnosed diabetes, while one in 10 health care dollars is attributed directly to diabetes, according to the ADA.
What a win-win the Diabetes Health Plan is for employers and employees. It will do what health insurance innovation is supposed to do: improve the health of those covered while reducing overall costs.
We’re offering a special health insurance plan for diabetics and pre-diabetics for two reasons:
1. To provide better care to diabetics and pre-diabetics
2. To save employers and employees money.
A decades-long epidemic of obesity in the U.S. is a major reason for the sharply rising numbers of diabetic and pre-diabetic adult Americans. Diagnoses of people with diabetes increased by 13.5 percent between 2005 and 2007, with 1.6 million new cases reported in 2007 alone, according to the ADA.
The key to our program is to engage individuals as soon as possible and design personalized, specific self-management steps for them that can decrease the odds they will move into higher-cost categories of treatment. For example, research shows that a typical person in the pre-diabetic group who reduces body weight by 7 percent through activities such as adopting better eating habits or walking 150 minutes per week reduces the risk of becoming diabetic by 58 percent.
There is a massive, untapped opportunity for millions of American who have pre-diabetes diagnoses to stop, and perhaps even reverse, the progress of the disease before its too late. By encouraging people to take the right preventive steps, with clear incentives including lower out-of-pocket costs, we can help people improve the quality of their lives.
UnitedHealthcare anticipates that increased preventive steps by Diabetes Health Plan participants can also help lower health care costs for employers and employees. Total estimated annual cost of a diabetic is greater than $22,000 a year, which is 13-times higher than the average cost of a “healthy” employee (defined as an individual with no chronic disease), according to UnitedHealthcare data.
The cost of diabetes to the U.S. economy has increased 32 percent since 2002, or $8 billion a year, reaching $174 billion in 2007, according to estimates by the ADA. The disease also takes a significant toll on the resources of the U.S. health care system. One out of every five health care dollars is spent caring for someone with diagnosed diabetes, while one in 10 health care dollars is attributed directly to diabetes, according to the ADA.
What a win-win the Diabetes Health Plan is for employers and employees. It will do what health insurance innovation is supposed to do: improve the health of those covered while reducing overall costs.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
UnitedHealthcare launches the first health care plan focused on diabetes with incentives for preventive care.
UnitedHealthcare has just taken a major step outside the box of health insurance. It’s a health insurance plan customized to help the rapidly growing numbers of diabetics and pre-diabetics manage their conditions more effectively while controlling employers’ escalating costs of insuring them.
This first-of-its-kind Diabetes Health Plan will reward diabetic and pre-diabetic individuals who routinely follow independent, medically proven steps to help manage their condition – such as regular blood sugar checks, routine exams and preventive screenings – and use wellness coaching.
Benefits include some diabetes supplies and diabetes-related prescription drugs at no charge, as well as lower co-payments for related doctor visits, at an estimated savings of up to $500 a year.
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), in 2007 nearly 24 million people in the U.S. had diabetes, 24 percent of whom were undiagnosed. Another 57 million are considered pre-diabetic, with about a fourth of them unaware of their condition. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that two-thirds of all diabetics do not follow their physicians’ advice on how to manage their disease. Experts say out-of-pocket costs for recommended supplies, medicines and physician-visit co-pays are a key reason why many diabetics do not follow treatment guidelines. Another is lack of knowledge about diabetes and pre-diabetic conditions.
By lowering financial barriers and providing wellness coaching, training and information, and a real-time compliance monitoring system and personal health record,
UnitedHealthcare’s Diabetes Health Plan provides many new incentives to help people better manage their health. Diabetes Health Plan participants who regularly follow their treatment plans can receive access to online monitoring and education tools at no charge, in addition to self-monitoring training and certain diabetes-related drugs (insulin, oral anti-glycemics, angiotensin receptor blockers and angio converting enzyme, anti-depressants and statins) and services.
Business Week had a good article a few months back about the pilot program we did with General Electric to evaluate the Diabetes Health Plan.
Now it’s no longer a pilot program, but a full-fledged health plan. Employers have the option of offering the program as a standalone health plan or as an enhancement to an existing traditional plan. The Diabetes Health Plan is also available to self-insured commercial health plan customers and their family members with diabetes or pre-diabetes.
This first-of-its-kind Diabetes Health Plan will reward diabetic and pre-diabetic individuals who routinely follow independent, medically proven steps to help manage their condition – such as regular blood sugar checks, routine exams and preventive screenings – and use wellness coaching.
Benefits include some diabetes supplies and diabetes-related prescription drugs at no charge, as well as lower co-payments for related doctor visits, at an estimated savings of up to $500 a year.
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), in 2007 nearly 24 million people in the U.S. had diabetes, 24 percent of whom were undiagnosed. Another 57 million are considered pre-diabetic, with about a fourth of them unaware of their condition. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that two-thirds of all diabetics do not follow their physicians’ advice on how to manage their disease. Experts say out-of-pocket costs for recommended supplies, medicines and physician-visit co-pays are a key reason why many diabetics do not follow treatment guidelines. Another is lack of knowledge about diabetes and pre-diabetic conditions.
By lowering financial barriers and providing wellness coaching, training and information, and a real-time compliance monitoring system and personal health record,
UnitedHealthcare’s Diabetes Health Plan provides many new incentives to help people better manage their health. Diabetes Health Plan participants who regularly follow their treatment plans can receive access to online monitoring and education tools at no charge, in addition to self-monitoring training and certain diabetes-related drugs (insulin, oral anti-glycemics, angiotensin receptor blockers and angio converting enzyme, anti-depressants and statins) and services.
Business Week had a good article a few months back about the pilot program we did with General Electric to evaluate the Diabetes Health Plan.
Now it’s no longer a pilot program, but a full-fledged health plan. Employers have the option of offering the program as a standalone health plan or as an enhancement to an existing traditional plan. The Diabetes Health Plan is also available to self-insured commercial health plan customers and their family members with diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Small businesses with health care are still covering employees, but there are fewer employees to cover.
A few people have asked me if many small businesses are cancelling coverage of their employees as a way to react to current economic conditions and the continuing inflation in health care costs.
Although it might seem to make sense that a lot of small business would drop coverage, that’s not what’s happening. We haven’t seen many small businesses backing off their commitment to provide health insurance benefits to employees, but a lot of small employment groups UHC covers in Pennsylvania have gotten smaller, with 10-employee companies often shrinking to 6 or 7 since the recession began.
While still committed to health care, small businesses have looked for ways to cut costs to the company and employees. Smaller healthcare networks, closed networks, higher deductible plans tied to innovative health savings accounts—these are just some of the ways that small businesses are trying to cut costs in the current economic environment while still providing health insurance benefits to their employees.
I’m pretty confident that once companies start hiring again, small businesses will continue to explore the innovations in health insurance that have been developed to meet the changing needs of the marketplace.
Although it might seem to make sense that a lot of small business would drop coverage, that’s not what’s happening. We haven’t seen many small businesses backing off their commitment to provide health insurance benefits to employees, but a lot of small employment groups UHC covers in Pennsylvania have gotten smaller, with 10-employee companies often shrinking to 6 or 7 since the recession began.
While still committed to health care, small businesses have looked for ways to cut costs to the company and employees. Smaller healthcare networks, closed networks, higher deductible plans tied to innovative health savings accounts—these are just some of the ways that small businesses are trying to cut costs in the current economic environment while still providing health insurance benefits to their employees.
I’m pretty confident that once companies start hiring again, small businesses will continue to explore the innovations in health insurance that have been developed to meet the changing needs of the marketplace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
