UnitedHealthcare's 2023 Medicare Plans Add New Advantages, Simplicity for Shoppers – Enterprise Wire

MINNETONKA, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–UnitedHealthcare^® at this time launched its 2023 Medicare Benefit and prescription drug plans, providing expanded entry to consumer-focused plans that ship a differentiated member expertise underscored by better-than-ever ancillary advantages, decrease prescription drug prices, and additional enhancements to core advantages.

“With monetary pressures particularly impacting older adults dwelling on fastened incomes, we’re dedicated to bettering the advantages we provide and driving industry-leading improvements that make them simpler to make use of for the folks we serve,” stated Tim Noel, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement. “These investments and improvements will make a significant impression on the expertise and worth we offer to our members – in methods solely UnitedHealthcare Medicare Benefit can.”

Greater than 8.2 million folksⁱ are at the moment enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare Benefit plans, and greater than a 3rd of all Medicare Benefit enrollment progress over the previous 5 years, together with 2022, has been by means of UnitedHealthcare.ⁱⁱ

In 2023, the corporate will broaden its service space to achieve 95% of Medicare shoppers nationwide and keep the {industry}’s largest Medicare Benefit footprint – together with almost 2.3 million extra folks in 314 further counties with entry to a normalⁱⁱⁱ Medicare Benefit plan and 145,000 extra folks eligible for a Twin Particular Wants Plan (D-SNP).

Highlights of UnitedHealthcare’s 2023 particular person Medicare Benefit plans embody:

New Plan Options Deliver Value Financial savings, Help Complete-Individual Well being

• D-SNP Utilities Credit score: The mixed over-the-counter (OTC) and wholesome meals profit supplied in 2022 on almost all D-SNPs gave members 3 times extra credit score than the 2021 wholesome meals credit score. In 2023, with meals and utility costs rising greater than the typical inflation charge^iv, residence utilities shall be added to the profit with a median annual credit score of greater than $2,200. This implies Twin members may select to spend their month-to-month credit score on bills like residence warmth, electrical energy, water, sewer and residential web.
• D-SNP House Help: With shopper analysis figuring out residence care providers as a prime desired profit by Twin eligibles, UnitedHealthcare will provide a brand new residence assist providers profit on choose D-SNPs. Members can use a $150-$225 quarterly credit score towards assist providers together with pest management, companion care, gentle cleansing, residence modifications, yard upkeep and extra.
• Flex Profit: A brand new flex profit on choose plans can be utilized to increase current dental, imaginative and prescient and listening to advantages after utilizing these advantages. This annual profit starting from $150-$750 can be utilized to pay for Medicare-approved objects and providers like listening to support copays, prescription sun shades, out-of-network dental fees and extra.

Worth-Added Investments Throughout Core and Ancillary Advantages, In style Plan Options

• Profit Stability: 99% of members in customary and Power Particular Wants Plans (C-SNPs) can have steady or lowered premiums – together with almost 3.3 million members with a $0 premium – and all can have steady or improved core and prescription drug advantages. Moreover, all Medicare Benefit members will see steady ancillary advantages, with 91% receiving better-than-ever ancillary advantages like dental, listening to, OTC and prescription drug protection.
• $0 Copays: 97% of members are enrolled in a normal plan or C-SNP with a $0 PCP copay, up from 83% in 2022 and better than the remainder of the {industry}, and almost all eligibles can have entry to a plan with a $0 PCP copay. Many members will even see decreased copays on specialist visits and bodily, occupational and speech therapies – and $0 copays when the go to is digital.
• Dental: The corporate will provide its richest enhanced complete dental profit ever, with one simplified protection degree out there to 96% of individuals in customary plans, masking all non-cosmetic dental care together with dentures and implants, and no out-of-pocket prices as much as the annual protection restrict on most plans. Members can have entry to the most important nationwide Medicare Benefit dental community, and all plans with the improved complete dental profit will permit members to see out-of-network dentists to obtain the protection they want.
• OTC, Wholesome Meals and Utilities Credit score: D-SNP members with this mixed profit will see a median improve of 42%, amounting to a median allowance of greater than $2,200, with some members having as much as $3,600 per 12 months to spend throughout coated OTC merchandise and wholesome meals between purchasing journeys or on-line supply orders, plus eligible utilities bills.
• Imaginative and prescient and Listening to: All plans with imaginative and prescient protection will keep a $0 routine annual eye examination, and most can have an eyewear allowance. Commonplace lenses are coated without charge and greater than 92% of members can have an annual profit, up from 59% in 2022. Moreover, nearly all of plans will provide a $0 listening to examination and all members can have a listening to support profit, usually annual, and entry to custom-programmed listening to aids by means of UnitedHealthcare Listening to, together with retail and home-delivery choices.

Prescription Drug Plan Designs Drive Down Client Prices

• $0 Copays and Deductibles: Extra plans than ever will decrease tier 1 retail copays to $0, giving almost all members in customary plans and C-SNPs free entry to the most typical adherence drugs. And 100% of members can have $0 tier 1 and a couple of copays by means of Optum House Supply, up from 93% in 2022. Moreover, 87% of members can have no Rx deductibles, up from 59% in 2022.
• Formulary Investments: The corporate’s Medicare Benefit formulary can have extra medicine in tier 1 than ever earlier than and transfer much more generally used medicine to decrease tiers, which goal situations comparable to heart problems, melancholy, osteoarthritis, glaucoma, and overactive bladder, amongst others. Moreover, a number of medicine used earlier than or after dental procedures have moved to tier 1, serving to to eradicate out-of-pocket prices for these medicine on most plans.
• Power Situation Help: All members with out Further Assist enrolled in C-SNPs can have entry to insulin at $25 ($10 lower than customary plans) along with diabetic provides on tier 2, giving entry to $0 copays for provides when utilizing residence supply. C-SNP members will even have entry to eight drugs on a decrease drug tier that concentrate on heart problems.
• Half D Protection Hole: All customary plans will proceed to offer tier 1 hole protection, eliminating elevated prices in the course of the protection hole and serving to to make sure price shouldn’t be a barrier for members to remain adherent with their drugs.
• $0 Drug Copays on Twin Particular Wants Plans (D-SNP): UnitedHealthcare will proceed to broaden entry to $0 copays on coated medicine to 96% of our members enrolled in D-SNPs – bringing wanted financial savings to extra Twin members than another service.

Distinctive Choices Help a Superior Member Expertise

• UCard: A nationwide rollout to greater than 6.4 million particular person Medicare Benefit members brings collectively the member ID with enhanced cost expertise to create a single, built-in card that not solely supplies entry to well being care, but additionally permits members to buy with their advantages, spend earned rewards and extra. Key options embody:
  • Members with an OTC, or OTC, wholesome meals, and utilities mixed profit can spend the credit score on their UCard on hundreds of coated objects at greater than 35,000 retail places nationwide – a primary for many members in customary plans and C-SNPs.
  • All members with a UCard and Renew Energetic® health profit can use the UCard to entry their free health club membership on their first go to to any of the 22,000+ Renew Energetic community gyms and health places – the most important nationwide Medicare health community.
  • Earned rewards are loaded onto a member’s UCard after they full eligible actions like getting a flu shot or a mammogram, having a UnitedHealthcare HouseCalls go to, or reaching month-to-month exercise targets.
  • The UCard Hub on the UnitedHealthcare member web site and cell app will give members real-time entry to out there balances, a retailer locator and extra, with further assist from customer support as wanted.
• Medicare Nationwide Community: The biggest nationwide Medicare Benefit community^v shall be out there throughout much more plans in 2023, reaching almost 96% of individuals in UnitedHealthcare’s protection space and greater than 3.1 million present enrollees. Members pay community prices once they see any of the greater than 1 million community care suppliers, whether or not of their neighborhood or away from residence.
• Excessive-Contact Member Help: Whether or not in particular person or on the telephone, and from routine to complicated wants, UnitedHealthcare provides tailor-made assist to members by means of packages together with:
  • HouseCalls: This yearly, in-home well being and wellness medical service is a checkup without charge. Through the go to, a licensed doctor or superior observe clinician will overview a person’s medical historical past, reply questions, carry out a bodily examination and provide a well being screening. These visits additionally present a chance to evaluate the social, emotional and environmental wants of a member that normally can’t be assessed in a clinic setting.
  • UnitedHealthcare At House: Choose markets provide this personalised medical program designed to enhance entry to care, assist member schooling and coordinate care throughout suppliers to in the end enhance well being outcomes by means of contact factors together with in-home visits and telephonic assist.
  • Navigate4Me^TM: For D-SNP members, our navigators present one-on-one assist for wants starting from medical assist, social determinants of well being, care coordination and extra.

Extra Protection Decisions to Meet Various Wants

As the one firm to supply Medicare plans with the AARP title, and the nation’s largest Medicare Benefit, D-SNP and Medicare Complement service, UnitedHealthcare serves almost 1 in 5 folks within the Medicare program by means of its portfolio of plans^vi. UnitedHealthcare serves roughly 4.4 million folks by means of its Medicare Complement plans and roughly 4 million folks by means of its stand-alone and group Half D prescription drug plans.

Folks could make adjustments to their Medicare protection throughout Medicare Annual Enrollment, which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.

For extra data on UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare plans, go to UHCMedicareHealthPlans.com.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is devoted to serving to folks stay more healthy lives and making the well being system work higher for everybody by simplifying the well being care expertise, assembly shopper well being and wellness wants, and sustaining trusted relationships with care suppliers. In america, UnitedHealthcare provides the complete spectrum of well being profit packages for people, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts immediately with greater than 1.5 million physicians and care professionals, and seven,000 hospitals and different care services nationwide. The corporate additionally supplies well being advantages and delivers care to folks by means of owned and operated well being care services in South America. UnitedHealthcare is without doubt one of the companies of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified well being care firm. For extra data, go to UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or comply with @UHC on Twitter.

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Plans are insured or coated by a Medicare Benefit group with a Medicare contract and/or a Medicare-approved Half D sponsor. Enrollment within the plan relies on the plan’s contract renewal with Medicare. For Twin Particular Wants Plans: A Medicare Benefit group with a Medicare contract and a contract with the State Medicaid Program.

Advantages and options, and/or units fluctuate by plan/space. Limitations and exclusions apply.

Flex profit allowance expires on the finish of the plan 12 months. Flex profit allowance have to be used at dental, imaginative and prescient or listening to suppliers that settle for Visa.

Meals, OTC and utility advantages have expiration timeframes. Name your plan or overview your Proof of Protection (EOC) for extra data.

In case your plan provides out-of-network dental protection and also you see an out-of-network dentist, you may be billed extra. Community measurement varies by native market. Out-of-network/non-contracted suppliers are underneath no obligation to deal with plan members, besides in emergency conditions. Please name our customer support quantity or see your Proof of Protection for extra data, together with the cost-sharing that applies to out-of-network providers.

$0 copay could also be restricted to specific tiers, most well-liked drugs, or residence supply prescriptions in the course of the preliminary protection section and will not apply in the course of the protection hole or catastrophic stage.

Digital visits could require a video-enabled smartphone or different gadget. Not to be used in emergencies.

Imaginative and prescient advantages fluctuate by plan and will not be out there with all plans. Limitations and exclusions apply. Further fees could apply for out-of-network objects and providers. Annual routine eye examination and $100-600 allowance for contacts or designer frames, with customary (single, bi-focal, tri-focal or customary progressive) lenses coated in full both yearly or each two years.

Different listening to examination suppliers can be found within the UnitedHealthcare community. The plan solely covers listening to aids from a UnitedHealthcare Listening to community supplier.

UnitedHealthcare Insurance coverage Firm pays royalty charges to AARP for the usage of its mental property. These charges are used for the final functions of AARP. AARP and its associates will not be insurers. You do not want to be an AARP member to enroll in a Medicare Benefit or Prescription Drug Plan. AARP encourages you to think about your wants when deciding on merchandise and doesn’t make particular product suggestions for people.

Participation within the Renew Energetic® program is voluntary. Seek the advice of your physician previous to starting an train program or making adjustments to your way of life or well being care routine. Renew Energetic contains customary health membership. Health membership tools, courses, personalised health plans, caregiver entry and occasions could fluctuate by location. Entry to Medicare’s largest nationwide health club community is predicated upon comparability of rivals’ web site information as of Could 2022. Health club community could fluctuate in native market.

HouseCalls will not be out there in all areas.

Supplier community could fluctuate in native market. Community sizes fluctuate by market and exclusions could apply.

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ⁱCMS enrollment information, August 2022. Enrollment throughout all plans.

ⁱⁱCMS Enrollment Knowledge, Dec. 2018 – Aug. 2022.

ⁱⁱⁱRefers to UnitedHealthcare’s customary Medicare Benefit plans (i.e., non-special wants plans).

^ivClient Value Index – Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index Summary – 2022 M08 Results (bls.gov); Latest Numbers : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov)

^vCommunity measurement varies by plan and by market and exclusions could apply.

^viCMS enrollment information, August 2022.