UnitedHealthcare Expands Use of Bundled Payments with Medicare Advantage Health Care Providers

2019 APR 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- UnitedHealthcare is advancing its collaboration with care providers and the government to deliver high-quality care and help people live healthier lives with the UnitedHealthcare Care Bundles Program.

The initiative builds upon UnitedHealthcare’s existing work with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) program for fee-for-service Medicare, and expands the company’s bundled payment offerings to care providers participating in its Medicare Advantage plan networks.

The UnitedHealthcare Care Bundles Program will offer care providers in more than 30 states the opportunity to participate in bundled payment models for their patients enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans for certain procedures, including hip and knee replacements, spinal fusions and coronary bypasses. This is in addition to the ability to participate with UnitedHealthcare in the BPCI Advanced program.

Bundled payments emphasize high-quality, coordinated health care at a lower cost by setting price and quality standards for procedures and follow-up treatments, and then rewarding participating care providers for exceeding these standards. They are a shift away from the common fee-for-service model that pays for each treatment.

“Our extensive data and technology experience positions UnitedHealthcare to collaborate with care providers to support better health and better care, at a lower cost,” said Jeff Meyerhofer, president of bundled payment solutions, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement. “We are making it easier for care providers by managing both the fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage models, taking on the administrative burden and tailoring our services to their individual needs, so they can focus on caring for their patients.”

Through the program, UnitedHealthcare will provide partnering care providers with scalable services and support, including care management solutions to help patients receive a quality experience from pre-operative education to post-acute care. The program also offers patient engagement tools, performance analytics and consulting, and payment administration services.

The UnitedHealthcare Care Bundles Program is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to value-based care. By the end of 2020, UnitedHealthcare expects to have $75 billion in care provider reimbursements tied to value-based arrangements annually. Currently, more than 3 million people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans are treated by care providers in value-based models.

For more information on the UnitedHealthcare Care Bundles Program, visit www.uhgcarebundles.com. About UnitedHealthcareUnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.2 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter. Plans are insured through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or one of its affiliated companies, a Medicare Advantage organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in the plan depends on the plan’s contract renewal with Medicare. Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for UnitedHealth Group. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190410005089/en/

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)