How UnitedHealthcare UCard can simplify coverage and care

Nov. 1, 2022

Video

UnitedHealthcare Ucard

Video transcript

Music up and throughout. Open on an office scene then cut to Nick.

Nick: The Medicare Advantage demographic, there’s a certain level of, you know, vulnerability.

[Onscreen:
Nick Holden
Vice President of Product
UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement]

Nick: They’re also the ones that are probably using the system the most. I feel like making things simplistic for that demographic is something that we should be pursuing every single day.

Scenes of Nick walking through office and working.

Nick: My dad got sick. He was diagnosed with something called mantle cell lymphoma. You know, it was incredibly difficult. There’s definitely opportunity for change in health care. And, ultimately what I started to center around was really kind of, like, that need for advocacy and to, you know, help drive and make things more simplistic.

Naveen walks into office, then scenes of Naveen working.

[Onscreen:
Naveen Joshi
Technical Architect
Solutran (Optum Financial Services)]

Naveen: In earlier days, you would have your insurance ID card, and then you would get a different card for your rewards; you would get a different card for your food and stuff. So, now when you go to the checkout lane, you’re now picking up all these different cards and then scanning one by one, and that’s time-consuming.

Nick: The UCard is our attempt to make health care more accessible and simplistic for the member.

Cece walks into the office, then show scenes of Cece and Nick talking.

[Onscreen:
Cece Backman
Director of Product
UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement]

Cece: The UCard is a single card that enables members to access multiple benefits and multiple programs, including their member ID, all in one spot.

[Onscreen:
Dan Galinson
National Accounts Executive
Solutran (Optum Financial Services)]

Dan: When a member goes to redeem their benefits now, they’re seeing, “Oh, this was my health plan that gave me this benefit.” My whole passion is trying to set up a network where a member who has benefits – whether it’s OTC benefits, nutrition benefits, whatever that benefit is – to make it easy for them to use it, where they want to use it. Customer choice is super important.

Show scenes of entire team around table working.

Naveen: Just like an insurance card, and when they’re able to buy with that, they come out with this big smile. That’s what motivates us.

Cece: Value-added simplicity is what the MA product team is after.

Nick: I’m in health care for, you know, because of my dad initially, but then it’s, you know, all the people we can help along the way. I really can’t think of a better spot to be positioned than, you know, with UnitedHealth Group. Because you think of the size of UnitedHealthcare and kind of those classic insurance lines, and the number of people that you can actually materially affect. And then Optum and the myriad of services that they have to complement that? Again, I can’t think of a better spot to be to actually drive that change.

Final scenes of team working.

UnitedHealthcare logo appears.

Disclaimer: 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.

Accessing all the benefits a Medicare Advantage plan offers should not feel like more work than it’s worth. Plan members typically receive multiple cards to access plan benefits as well as reward cards for completing health activities.

UnitedHealthcare helps to simplify the member experience with the UnitedHealthcare UCardTM. UCard was introduced in 2022, and in 2023 is rolling out to more than 6 million individual Medicare Advantage members. UCard brings together the member ID with enhanced payment technology to create a single, integrated card that not only provides access to health care, but also allows members to shop with their benefits, spend earned rewards and more.

“UCard is our attempt to make health care simpler and more accessible,” said Nick Holden, vice president of product for UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement.

How it works

Instead of juggling multiple cards, UCard combines the member ID, over-the-counter (OTC) benefit, earned rewards, and more, into an all-in-one member card. Key features include:

Ability to check in at the provider and pharmacy
Members with an OTC, or OTC, healthy food, and utilities combined benefit can spend the credit on their UCard on thousands of covered items at more than <55,000> retail locations nationwide
All members with a UCard and Renew Active® fitness benefit can use the UCard to access their free gym membership on their first visit to any of the 22,000+ Renew Active network gyms and fitness locations – the largest national Medicare fitness network
Earned rewards are loaded onto a member’s UCard after they complete eligible activities like getting a flu shot, having a UnitedHealthcare HouseCalls visit, or achieving monthly activity goals

Managing UCard can be simpler than managing multiple cards, too. Members can visit the UCard Hub on their member website to complete actions like checking their OTC and rewards balances and shopping for OTC products or covered healthy foods online – empowering access to more of their benefits right at their fingertips.

UCard is ready to help ease the Medicare Advantage experience – and to make your purse or wallet feel a lot less cluttered.

To learn more about UCard watch the following video. And to find UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans in your area, visit uhc.com/medicare.

More articles

More articles

Sign up to get the latest news from the UnitedHealthcare Newsroom

Disclaimer

Plans are insured through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or one of its affiliated companies, a Medicare Advantage organization with a Medicare contract [and a Medicare-approved Part D sponsor]. Enrollment in these plans depends on the plan’s contract renewal with Medicare.

Benefits, features and/or devices vary by plan/area. Limitations and exclusions apply. OTC benefits have expiration timeframes. Call your plan or review your Evidence of Coverage (EOC) for more information.

Rewards are not available on all plans and rewards may vary by plan.

Food, OTC and utilities benefits have expiration timeframes. Call your plan or review your Evidence of Coverage (EOC) for more information.

Participation in the Renew Active® program is voluntary. Consult your doctor prior to beginning an exercise program or making changes to your lifestyle or health care routine. Renew Active includes standard fitness membership. Fitness membership equipment, classes, personalized fitness plans, caregiver access and events may vary by location. Access to Medicare’s largest national gym network is based upon comparison of competitors’ website data as of May 2022. Gym network may vary in local market.

HouseCalls may not be available in all areas.