Over the last several months, the rise of COVID-19 has presented an excessive amount of challenges to individuals, businesses, institutions and across national and global healthcare systems. In efforts to restore imbalances in the healthcare industry, UnitedHealth Group, along with many other insurance carriers, have rose to the occasion.
UnitedHealth Group has done so by providing more than $1.5 billion in support, which has included customer premium credits to its UnitedHealthcare customers, as well as the expansion of its Housing+Health and homeless support programs which provides individuals with shelf stable food and baby formula.
“Our mission and core values of integrity, compassion, relationships, innovation and performance guide our response to the challenges offered by this complex situation. Our actions today are a continuation of our commitment to act swiftly to support the people, and customers we are privileged to serve and those working courageously on the front line of this pandemic.”
David S. Wichmann, CEO of UnitedHealth Group
To build on UnitedHealth Group’s ongoing efforts in response to COVID-19, other actions taken by the company include:
- Waiving all cost-sharing for COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment, while simplifying access to care by reducing prior authorization requirements.
- Accelerating nearly $2 billion of the group’s funds to healthcare providers to support liquidity needs in early April and assisting in the $100 billion CARES Act funds distribution for care delivery partners.
- Pioneering a non-invasive, self-administered COVID-19 test that streamlines testing, reduces PPE usage and increases safety of healthcare workers.
- Dedicating senior executives to support major scientific discovery and relief efforts.
- Designing and deploying a new protocol, process and supportive technology to help keep the nation’s health workforce safe and to support employers in bringing their employees safely back to work.
- Providing a special enrollment period for fully insured customers to allow employees to get coverage.
- Significantly expanding access to telehealth and redeploying 10,000 Optum clinicians to expand telehealth capacities.
- Launching a free nationwide emotional support line to manage stress and anxiety.
- Investing $75 million to help communities in need, protect the healthcare workforce, and help people and clinicians cope with stress and anxiety from the pandemic and related economic challenges.
To learn more about UnitedHealth Group and their ongoing efforts in response to COVID-19, click here.
Information provided by UnitedHealth Group.