UnitedHealthcare goes for bigger piece of Minnesota market
The bigger move into the employer business, plus a planned expansion in
"It's just really important for us to kind of demonstrate what we can do," Kaufman said, "whether it be on the technology front or [with] our collaborations with physicians here in our home state."
UnitedHealthcare and other insurers have been sizing up the state's Medicare market due to a separate regulatory change that's scheduled for 2019.
UnitedHealthcare is the largest company in
"It's almost like us getting another airline," said
UnitedHealthcare previously administered some employee health plans for very large multistate employers that are based in
"They could have a major impact in the Medicare Advantage market,"
UnitedHealthcare's announcement on Monday follows word earlier this year that health insurance giant
Employers certainly will hope for the new competition to drive savings in health plan costs, said
Those contracts with health care providers present new insurers -- even very large companies like UnitedHealthcare -- with a "chicken and egg" problem when entering a market, said
"An insurer needs a lot of enrollees to get good rates from providers," Ody said via e-mail. "To attract enrollees, an insurer needs competitive premiums. This means an insurer needs to be willing to lose some money while building a customer base."
When it comes to contracts with doctors and hospitals in
Those relationships will continue, but UnitedHealthcare now will develop its own network for products the company sells without
The UnitedHealthcare actions "will not have a direct impact on
Kaufman, the UnitedHealthcare official, said his company was drawn to the
"In my mind, the more competitors you have, the better," Kaufman said. "I think it drives everybody to improve."
Twitter: @chrissnowbeck
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