UnitedHealthcare is one of the best-known health insurance providers in the United States – and the largest. Although they’re among the most costly options, they offer some exciting and innovative features, such as 24/7 access to online ‘virtual visits’ and other tools. While you can expect higher premiums, their large network and support go some way to justifying the cost (which will vary depending upon your specific plan).

UnitedHealthcare overview

With a large network across the United States along with excellent online tools, UnitedHealthcare’s biggest strength as a small business health insurance company is the accessibility of care. Managing your account is easy, which is refreshing in an industry known for confusing plans and lack of transparency.

However, there are more affordable options out there which may be more attractive to small businesses with lower cash flow, and not necessarily in exchange for reduced coverage.

Check out our roundup of the Best Health Insurance for Small Business

UnitedHealthcare features

UnitedHealthcare has some features that are specific to your plan, and others that everyone they insure has access to. For example, while only some plans include fixed-dollar copayments, everyone can check the status of their account online with their easy-to-use web management system.

We’ll talk about the features of specific plans later. For now, we’ll focus on the features you and your employees can expect access to regardless of your small business healthcare plan.

UnitedHealthcare offers small businesses and individuals access to a comprehensive online support system with a large number of useful features. If you want to be able to manage your healthcare online, UnitedHealthcare makes it easy.

The online account manager helps you keep track of the status of your plan. With MyUHC, you can order prescriptions, access a nurse hotline and even UnitedHealthcare wellness programs.

If you can’t make it in to see a doctor or would prefer not to, the ‘virtual visit’ option is extremely useful, enabling you to consult a medical specialist from home. You don’t need an appointment and can access it either on your mobile or desktop device.

The accessibility and ease of use are impressive and extends the usefulness of a UnitedHealthcare plan well beyond the doctor’s office or the hospital.

The health discount program is another useful feature. You can get discounts of up to 50% on selected health and wellness services. These include:

• Massage therapy
• Fertility treatments
• Cosmetic dentistry
• Acupuncture
• Laser eye surgery
• Hearing devices

UnitedHealthcare plans for small businesses

Small businesses looking for health insurance have a choice between not just health insurance companies, but plans offered by those companies. UnitedHealthcareconsidersr small business plans to be those for companies of between 2 and 50 people, but some of these plans cover companies of as many as 5,000. If you’re a small business considering UnitedHealthcare, your options include:

• UnitedHealthcare Choice
• UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus
• UnitedHealthcare Options PPO

UnitedHealthcare Choice

UnitedHealthcare Choice is for small businesses who want to give their employees the freedom to see any doctor or use any medical facility they want. In health insurance terms, this makes it an ‘open access’ plan. If you feel that choice is a priority for your employees, this is a plan to consider. However, they will save money by sticking to the UnitedHealthcare network.

Features of UnitedHealthcare choice include:

• Fixed dollar copayments
• Coinsurance options
• Discounted access for in-network care (895,000+ physicians and health professionals, with 5,600+ hospitals)
• 100% coverage for preventative care
• Not having to select a primary care physician (PCP) to get referred for specialist care.

If your small business has between 2 and 5,000+ employees, UnitedHealthcare Choice is a company health insurance option available to you.

UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus

A small business employee with UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus received all the benefits of the regular Choice plan, plus lower out-of-pocket costs at the point of use if they decide to use a care provider outside of the network.

UnitedHealthcare Options PPO

This plan offers the significant upside of being able to choose any doctor without seeking a referral, whether for specialist care or not.

As with the previous plans, you can get cost savings by seeking out an in-network physician. Your employees will be able to use services outside of the network, but out-of-pocket costs will be higher and it’s up to the member to submit claims.

This plan is suited to small businesses from 2 to 5,000+ employees.

Alternatives to UnitedHealthcare

If Unitedhealthcare’s higher premiums seem like too much of a drawback for your small business, there are other options available.

• Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) offer a greater variety of plans as a group of 37 different companies, with an average plan cost that is lower than those available with UnitedHealthcare.
• For even greater savings, Humana offers lower prices than most of the companies we reviewed while their plans often provide a superior range of benefits.

UnitedHealthcare: The verdict for small businesses

With a large network across the United States along with excellent online tools, UnitedHealthcare’s biggest strength as a small business health insurance company is the accessibility of care. Managing your account is easy, which is refreshing in an industry known for confusing plans and lack of transparency.

However, there are more affordable options out there which may be more attractive to small businesses with lower cash flow, and not necessarily in exchange for reduced coverage.