How the Surest Health Plan Helped Improve Access to Care and Lowered Costs

Encouraging a healthier workforce has long been a priority for employers aiming to attract and retain top talent and spur productivity.

To help achieve these goals, many employers are opting for a more modern approach to health benefits like the Surest health plan from UnitedHealthcare, which is designed to help improve access to care with the goal of reducing health care expenses.

Here’s a look at how Surest is different from traditional health plans and how this approach may help meet the care needs of employees and bolster your company’s bottom line.    

Surest helps remove financial barriers to care
According to a 2022 Gallup poll, 38% of Americans avoid or delay health care due to costs.

Therefore, making medical services more affordable is imperative to help improve access and promote a more equitable system.

Surest eliminates deductibles and coinsurance and provides upfront cost and coverage information through an intuitive mobile app, so people enrolled in Surest can use their benefits right away, including for low-or-no-cost virtual options.

Surest helps make comparison shopping for care simpler
Surest empowers consumers with the cost and coverage information they need to inform their choices. Surest uses variable copays, which means the copay may vary depending on the care provider and facility selected, with higher-value options assigned a lower copay. Providers are evaluated based on effectiveness, safety and cost efficiency.

The member’s copay may be lower – in some cases by thousands of dollars – if they select a care provider and facility identified as offering higher-value care. More than 90% of the time Surest members select care providers and facilities that have been evaluated for quality and value (1).

Surest does this without limiting members’ options in terms of network care providers and without adding additional referral requirements. Surest uses the broad, national UnitedHealthcare and Optum Behavioral Health networks of doctors, hospitals, and clinics.

Surest improved access to preventive care
A study showed the Surest plan is making it easier for consumers to access preventive care, which may help identify potential health concerns earlier and may contribute to better health outcomes.

Surest members had a 20% increase in physician visits (2) and a 9% increase in preventive physical exams compared to people enrolled in high-deductible plans. That included a 15% increase in preventive mammograms and a 34% increase in preventive colonoscopies.

Surest helped lower total cost of care
According to the National Compensation Survey’s Employer Costs for Employee Compensation report, medical care is the second largest expense for employers behind salaries. Therefore, it is vital that companies maximize the value of their health benefits.

Some employers are achieving that outcome with Surest. Surest can drive impressive savings for employers and employees. Surest members had 54% lower out-of-pocket costs. (3)

A recent study found the Surest health plan’s copay-driven model allows members to see the full cost of care beforehand leading to lower claim costs exceeding $400 per member per year. (4)

Surest offers a compelling, proven approach to health benefits, helping empower consumers and simplify the health system.

www.surest.com/ • 866-683-6440

(1) Surest 2022 book of business plan sponsors with both medical and pharmacy data within our warehouse; industry 2022 commercial benchmarks and risk adjustment methodology. Risk adjusted for demographics, geography, and disease burden. 168_V01, 66_V03, 169_V01, 71_V03, 67_V03.

(2) Surest 2022 book of business plan sponsors with both medical and pharmacy data within our warehouse; industry 2022 commercial benchmarks and risk adjustment methodology. Risk adjusted for demographics, geography, and disease burden. 168_V01, 66_V03, 169_V01, 71_V03, 67_V03. 

(3) Study comparing Surest financial and utilization outcomes to a matched control group composed of non-Surest members from the same employers, using the same network. Members were matched on age, gender, geography, and chronic conditions. March 2023.

(4)  Aon’s Cost Efficiency Measurement of Surest 2022, March 2024.