In a bid to serve its members better, the health insurer behemoth UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) took a big step by declaring that it will continue with some of the health care insurance provisions doled out by the Health Care Reform Act 2010. The insurer is planning to keep these provisions regardless of the outcome of the pending Supreme Court ruling on the reform.

Some of the provisions that UnitedHealth aims to keep include an insurance cover for children until the age of 26, as part of their parents insurance plan.

Additionally, the company will carry on providing preventive health care services without charging co-pays. A co-pay is a type of plan wherein the insured has to pay a specified dollar amount for the service availed, while the insurer pays the rest.

The health insurer is of the opinion that chopping off the co-payment clause from the plan will make preventive services more attractive to the members. These services, which include yearly medical checkups, testing for high blood pressure and standard immunization, go a long way in lowering member health care costs.

UnitedHealth also announced elimination of lifetime dollar limits on benefits received by members. Until the Health Care law was proposed, many health insurance policies used to carry a lifetime dollar limit clause. As per the clause, the enrollee would pay for the benefit, over and above the limit set up in the plan. This would often result in bankruptcy for members suffering from serious illness.

Moreover, if the policy holder crossed the lifetime dollar limit, they would get no further coverage from their health insurance plan. They were also shunned insurance coverage by other insurance companies, owing to pre-existing condition limitations.

UnitedHealth also announced that it would not rescind individual coverage policies, except in case of fraud. Prior to the Health Care Reform, insurers would defensively rescind coverage if an individual fell sick. This policy of insurers to save their claims money attracted national attention.

UnitedHealth also assured its members necessary support and assistance when they sought to appeal against an unfair decision made by the insurer. The insurer would provide its members an external appeal process, wherein the members will have a right to appeal against the denied claim to an independent reviewer. External appeal processes have been successful amongst consumers.

UnitedHealth has indeed taken a very bold step, which reflects a change in the conduct of the insurer. The move will ensure increased accessibility and affordability of health insurance for its members. The initiative will strengthen consumer and patient rights as well. Since UnitedHealth has already made a start, we expect other health insurers like Aetna Inc. (AET), CIGNA Corp. (CI), WellPoint Inc. (WLP) and others to soon follow suit.

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Good News for UnitedHealth Members