How the Surest Health Plan Helped Improve Access to Care and Lowered Costs

Encouraging a healthier workforce has long been a priority for employers aiming to attract and retain top talent and spur productivity.

To help achieve these goals, many employers are opting for a more modern approach to health benefits like the UnitedHealthcare Surest health plan, which is designed to help improve access to care with the goal of reducing health care expenses.

Here’s a look at how Surest is different from traditional health plans and how this approach may help meet the care needs of employees and bolster your company’s bottom line.    

Surest helps remove financial barriers to care

Surest eliminates deductibles and coinsurance and provides upfront cost and coverage information through an intuitive mobile app, so people enrolled in Surest can use their benefits right away, including for low-or-no-cost virtual options.

Surest helps make comparison shopping for care simpler

Surest empowers consumers with the cost and coverage information they need to inform their choices. Surest uses variable copays, which means the copay may vary depending on the care provider and facility selected, with higher-value options assigned a lower copay. Providers are evaluated based on effectiveness, safety and cost efficiency.

The member’s copay may be lower – in some cases by thousands of dollars – if they select a care provider and facility identified as offering higher-value care. More than 90% of the time Surest members select care providers and facilities that have been evaluated for quality and value[1].

Surest improved access to preventive care

Surest members had a 20% increase in physician visits[2] and a  9% increase in preventive physical exams compared to people enrolled in high-deductible plans. That included a  15% increase in preventive mammograms and a  34% increase in preventive colonoscopies.

Surest helped lower total cost of care

With medical care ranking as the second largest expense for employers behind salaries, it is vital companies maximize the value of their health benefits. 

Some employers are achieving that outcome with Surest. Surest can drive impressive savings for employers and employees. Surest members had 54% lower out-of-pocket costs.[1]

Surest offers a compelling, proven approach to health benefits, helping empower consumers and simplify the health system.

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[1] Surest 2022 book of business plan sponsors with both medical and pharmacy data within our warehouse; industry 2022 commercial benchmarks and risk adjustment methodology. Risk adjusted for demographics, geography, and disease burden. 168_V01, 66_V03, 169_V01, 71_V03, 67_V03.

[2] Surest 2022 book of business plan sponsors with both medical and pharmacy data within our warehouse; industry 2022 commercial benchmarks and risk adjustment methodology. Risk adjusted for demographics, geography, and disease burden. 168_V01, 66_V03, 169_V01, 71_V03, 67_V03. 

[3] Study comparing Surest financial and utilization outcomes to a matched control group composed of non-Surest members from the same employers, using the same network. Members were matched on age, gender, geography, and chronic conditions. March 2023.