How a modernized health plan lowered total cost of care and improved employee experience

Business Journals

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Like any innovative startup, the copay-only Surest® health plan came from a group of innovators discontent with the status quo.
These veteran insurance innovators asked themselves, what if health insurance could work like other consumer services? What if provider options and clear costs were available before members sought care so people could shop for health care like they shop for many other products?
In 2016, that concept became a reality. Shortly thereafter, the company that would later be rebranded as Surest, signed its first customers, and in 2021, it joined with UnitedHealthcare.
How does the Surest plan work?
Surest is a health plan available to employers with two or more employees and is offered on a self-funded, fully insured, and level funded basis.*
With employers of all sizes looking to combat rising health care costs, Surest remains the only product that can help curb rising health care costs without trimming benefits, narrowing networks or shifting costs onto employees.
What makes Surest different? It allows members to more easily compare cost and coverage options upfront and provides more convenient, better access to health care. The Surest plan eliminates the deductible and coinsurance financial barriers to care.
Instead, within the Surest app, members can compare care options and network providers and see actual costs in the form of a single copay — not costs estimates. Copays are lower for providers evaluated as higher-value, based on past effectiveness or cost efficiency data.
With Surest, members have access to the broad, national UnitedHealthcare and Optum Behavioral Health networks. This reimagined health plan helped reduce total costs of care:
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Why does Surest work?
Since 2021, Surest has grown from serving 1 in 9 of UnitedHealthcare's largest employer clients to 1 in 4 today. With numbers like that, it's no wonder that when employers are first introduced to the plan some react with: 'It's too good to be true.'
'Our broker explained the magic in the sauce is really through the decision-making of the employee,' said Maria Freda, chief client finance officer for Horizon Media in New York City.
Putting members in the driver's seat of their health care decisions has paid off: According to a third-party study, Surest medical and pharmacy spend was 7.5% lower in 2021 and 7.7% in 2022, compared to the control group. [4]
Surest helped members access appropriate care in the best setting for their needs. Compared to a control group, Surest members had: [5]
14% fewer emergency room visits
17% fewer surgeries
4% less complex imaging (MRI/CT)
Surest members also used more efficient services more often than the control group:
698% more virtual visits
8% more preventive visits
19% more physical therapy visits
The Surest health plan can be a win-win for employers and their workforce. Visit www.Surest.com to learn more.
* Surest is available nationwide, except in Hawaii, to employers with self-funded health plans with two or more employees, and in 40 states to employers with fully insured plans that include 51 or more employees*. Surest is also available to employers with level-funded health plans with between two and 50 employees.
[1] Surest actuarial results through 2024.
[2] Members who migrated from a non-Surest plan to a Surest plan in 2022, compared to those who stayed with a non-Surest plan.
[3] The Surest book-of-business demographic, adjusted compound annual growth rate from 2019 to 2023 was 4.6%.
[4] Aon's Cost Efficiency Measurement of Surest 2021-2022, March 2024.
[5] 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.