Any input on United Healthcare?

[AnnieW625]

We now have some new HMO options and United Healthcare is one (HealthNet is the other, but their information is not updated yet--open enrollment starts on Monday). Anyone have any strong likes or dislikes for them?

Our monthly premiums would be $335 per month and it would include pretty much anything our family needs. The girls pediatrician is covered, there are enough family practice or internal options for DH/myself and it includes the major hospital in Long Beach, which has a well known children's hospital as well. Downside is no self referrals, but honestly if I can keep my acne under control and just get some meds from the regular doctor or get a referral I should be okay.

FWIW we have a no monthly premium PPO administered through Blue Cross and we have spent about $1200 OOP this year and did an $1800 HSA, which including the $800 we spent on Dh's glasses, DH's contacts, and DD1's glasses. Next year that PPO will cost $187 a month and it has a much higher OOP max of $6500 for the hospital in Long Beach. If we switched to the better PPO it would be $313 per month and I figure we'd still spend about $1200 to $1500 OOP so it would be more expensive than the HMO.

[marymoo86]

I have had them under two different companies with no issues. I think it really depends on the state/plan/etc. Generally I don't think they are viewed positively as I believe they are for profit. However, again no big issues but I haven't had any claims other than routine doctors care until now. Will see after this birth but so far no complaints.

Both of my plans though have been PPO.

[lizzywednesday]

I have UHC; it's the only company my company works with. They have multiple levels of membership.

We have the "Cadillac" PPO open-access plan and we do not participate in either an HSA or FSA program; under our usual use, neither would have saved us money. I will pay more for the convenience of the open-access plan, though, so YMMV.

Our plan's coverage is 80/20 after you meet a $500 per person deductible; there's a family OOP maximum of, I think, $1200. Well-visits are 100% covered.

The prescription drug plan is handled separately; anything taken on a regular basis, like thyroid meds or birth control pills, is considered a "maintenance medication" and must be ordered in a 90-day supply from a mail-order pharmacy.

[lovin2shop]

I coordinate health insurance for the small business that I work at, and we had UHC a couple of years ago. They were by far the best out of any of the companies that we had at actually paying out claims. None of the deny, deny, okay you complained enough, so we'll pay kind of crap. Unfortunately, they dropped us as our company wide claims were too high for it to be profitable for them.

[citymama]

We have UHC PPO plan. I don't pay anything towards insurance, employer covers it all (for the entire family) except the $1200 deductible. Super happy with it.

[brittone2]

We have a private higher ded. plan that is United. We've been pleased with it so far. We had a small increase in monthly premium cost this year, but they've dropped our deductible over the past 2 yrs from 5k/family/yr to 4000/family/yr, and now we are down 3500/family/yr since we have yet to meet our deductible. It won't go any lower than that, but it has been encouraging to see.

I do think a lot depends on the specific plan, etc. as PPs said. Comparing one plan to another under the same company can sometimes be apples and oranges.

eta: I can self refer.

[sariana]

UHC recently took over as the administrator of TriCare, and everything has been slow, slow, slow. It has taken months to get D's authorizations. OTOH, all of them were approved without question, so that's a positive.

So far my only complaint is he delays, but I'm hoping that is just a transition issue. Once UHC gets established, I imagine it will be better. So far they have been good with phone customer service (answering questions).

[codex57]

For SoCal, I'd rank them roughly in this order:

1) Blue Shield






2) Kaiser (unless you get a more serious disease/problem and then you'd drop them to around last)



3) Blue Cross

4) UHC/Health Net/one or two others whose names escape me right now



















5) Kaiser if you've got a serious disease or medical problem (cancer, need a MRI, etc)


Yes, the gaps are intentional.

[AngB]

I prefer Anthem, but they are ok.

[lmr1101]

I am insurance broker and sell both UHC and Health Net. I personally know that if my choice was between the two companies with the plan information being equal I would go with UHC - without a doubt!

Health Net is a much smaller company and have been having A LOT of claims issues here is AZ. The CA plans are supposed to be running smoother - but I would still be scared to go with them right now.

[AnnieW625]

Thanks for the initial input and I was initially hesitant to post anything because I know that plans vary from employer to state to state. Codex, you are too funny. I probably should compare Anthem's HMO with United Health Care as well. I think it is slightly more expensive.

In the 9 yrs. we have lived in So Cal we have had:
04-05: Kaiser, no issues with them, although I didn't like the Kaiser South Bay call center people at all and they wouldn't let me switch over to Kaiser Bellflower (which was a lot closer to my house than Kaiser Harbor City).
2006: Blue Cross PPO (aka Pers Choice), got this because the darn Blue Shield HMO+ hmo didn't have the OB listed in the right county. Had a few billing issues with them.
2007: Blue Shield HMO+, had this for a year and was perfectly happy with it, however the rates went up to about $400 a month so it wasn't the most practical plan anymore. Last year I think it was closer to $450 a month for a family, but this year it is back to about $350 (it was $200 in 2007).
2008-2012: Kaiser, had no issues with them, and the specialists I saw with baby 2 were the same doctors who delivered Octomom's baby so they knew their stuff, but other than them misdiagnosing Baby 2's issues and not sending me for an echo cardiogram instanly, they waited 3 weeks because they thought it was a small ecogenic focile that would close up :hopmad: we were happy with them. The L&D nurses who spoke with a heavy Filipino accent were also kind of irritating for the birth of DD2, and their dumb no visitors under 13 due to them not clearing flu season in April that year was irritating. Their rates went up a bunch for 2013 so we thought we'd try the no cost option.
2013: Blue Cross PPO (aka Pers Select), pretty happy with it, but again it's going to be close to $200 and imho the less I have to deal with the HSA and submitting things the better. I like being able to refer on my own, but really it's just for dermatology right now and if we got really sick this could be a pretty expensive option to continue.

In Nor Cal I had Health Net from 2000 to 2002, and then had Kaiser in 2003 and 2004. Kaiser in Nor Cal ime is better than Kaiser So Cal.

[cckwmh]

I know It varies by state/plan, but as a prescriber, I hate when my patients have united. I need to do more work to get meds covered, lots of prior authorizations, etc. don't know if anyone in your family is on chronic meds, but check their formulary for the meds you take.

[PZMommy]

I prefer Anthem, but they are ok.

I have an Anthem HMO, and they have been great. My DS2 has numerous health issues, and we get referrals to specialists very quickly.