So, UHC sends agents an article from the N.Y. Time, to share with our clients, which is behind a Paywall

[Duaine]

UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty recently wrote an Op-Ed published in the New York Times that we wanted to share with our agent community. Thank you for helping us deliver on our mission to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone.

Do you think that they could have afforded to pay the N.Y. Times for copies to send to agents to share with our clients?

We as agents want to help and have something to share with our "nervous" clients. Perhaps something "warm and fuzzy"?

Fact Sheet:
UnitedHealth Group today provided the following information regarding UnitedHealthcare's medical claims approval rate:

• UnitedHealthcare approves and pays about 90% of medical claims upon submission.
• Of those that require further review, around one-half of one percent are due to medical or clinical reasons.
• About half of those not paid initially are due to administrative errors, such as missing documentation, which can be corrected.
• The majority remaining are due to factors such as an individual not having insurance coverage with UnitedHealthcare or duplicate claims submissions.
• Any other numbers being discussed in some quarters purporting to be the UnitedHealthcare approval rate are wrong.

 

[somarco]

UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty addresses backlash against insurer

"We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people's frustrations with it," Witty says.

www.healthcarefinancenews.com

 

[GoPokes]

Seems like he is doing a bit of damage control, after his comments last week in regards to supporting the former CEO's vision, which came across very disconnected to the voice of many insureds.

 

[Special Agent]

UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty recently wrote an Op-Ed published in the New York Times that we wanted to share with our agent community. Thank you for helping us deliver on our mission to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone.

Do you think that they could have afforded to pay the N.Y. Times for copies to send to agents to share with our clients?

We as agents want to help and have something to share with our "nervous" clients. Perhaps something "warm and fuzzy"?

Fact Sheet:
UnitedHealth Group today provided the following information regarding UnitedHealthcare's medical claims approval rate:

• UnitedHealthcare approves and pays about 90% of medical claims upon submission.
• Of those that require further review, around one-half of one percent are due to medical or clinical reasons.
• About half of those not paid initially are due to administrative errors, such as missing documentation, which can be corrected.
• The majority remaining are due to factors such as an individual not having insurance coverage with UnitedHealthcare or duplicate claims submissions.
• Any other numbers being discussed in some quarters purporting to be the UnitedHealthcare approval rate are wrong.

 

[Special Agent]

paywall killer [EXTERNAL LINK] - archive.ph

your welcome

 

[annon123]

Here is the url (I have a subscription and the link is for me to share to so you can view it for free)

Opinion | UnitedHealth Group C.E.O.: The Health Care System Is Flawed. Let’s Fix It.

No one would design a system like the one we have. And no one did.

www.nytimes.com

 

[somarco]

C level execs are hired/promoted based on the presumed value they bring to the company and stockholders. "Chainsaw" Jack Welch is just one example of a CEO whose management style was aggressive and often unpopular, but he got results and remained at the top of GE for 30 years.

Managed care has generated a lot of revenue for health insurance carriers but many of their clients have suffered as a result. They claim to deliver better care and improved health but there is no empirical evidence to support the promise. In fact, studies are inconclusive.

"There is no definitive conclusion on whether managed care plans deliver better health care than traditional fee-for-service (FFS) plans. Some studies have found improved quality and access, while others have found no impact or worse outcomes."

In the 80's when managed care was expanding, many heath insurance carriers offered significant premium discounts for plan designs with a "package" of prior authorization, hospital continued stay review and discharge planning. Wellness inducements were also part of the package.

Some premium discounts were as much as 20%.

However the results never matched the projected savings so the discounts dwindled and eventually disappeared within a few years. Wellness did indeed produce results in small samples where early detection saved money and lives. But there was no consistency in the results mostly because in spite of incentives to visit a doctor and have tests, the majority of the public never embraced seeing a doctor when they weren't sick.

All this to say, that in spite of personal feelings about insurance companies, this does not justify murdering someone just because you may not agree with their business affiliation. Same applies to health care workers.