UnitedHealthcare and the Business Health Care Group (BHCG) of southeastern Wisconsin today announced a multi-year relationship to deliver health benefits to employers in the greater Milwaukee area.
Effective Jan. 1, 2016, UnitedHealthcare will be the exclusive provider of health benefits for the BHCG.
The UnitedHealthcare offerings will help employees obtain care from physicians and facilities that meet or exceed specific, independent quality of care and cost-efficiency standards.
BHCG was formed in 2003 by several large Milwaukee-based employers concerned about rising health care costs in southeast Wisconsin. These employers sought to develop a common strategy to address quality and costs of health care. Today, more than 1,000 southeastern Wisconsin businesses of all sizes representing more than 70,000 employees participate in the BHCG.
UnitedHealthcare will provide comprehensive administrative services to BHCG employers, provide consumers access to UnitedHealthcare’s broad network of hospitals and physicians, and offer BHCG members dedicated services and community resources. Certain UnitedHealthcare products will be promoted to BHCG member employers in the following 11-county area: Dodge, Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha.
UnitedHealthcare reports that its plan participants have experienced 16 percent lower episodic costs than non-designated network physicians, improving their quality of life and saving themselves and their employer significant amounts of medical cost.
“In light of our goals which focus on health care value for our employer members and their employees, it became clear that UnitedHealthcare was the best administrative partner option for the BHCG going forward,” said Dianne Kiehl, BHCG executive director. “Our partnership will deliver innovative benefit plans that help meet our goals of driving improvement in both quality and cost.”
“UnitedHealthcare understands southeastern Wisconsin’s distinctive needs, traditions and market structure, and is uniquely positioned to support the health and well-being of BHCG member employers and their employees,” said Dustin Hinton, president and chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin, which serves more than 1.4 million people in Wisconsin. “Providing products and services that give people relevant and transparent quality and price information is a critical element in a strategy to address health care delivery and cost. Surrounding those offerings with cutting-edge resources that engage, inform, educate and motivate makes the strategy actionable and useful for consumers. We look forward to partnering with the BHCG to give member businesses and their employees access to quality, cost-effective care.”
“In this era of evolving health care market changes, we believe our way forward is through a balanced approach that places equal emphasis on employees taking an active role in their health and health care decisions and on providers continuing to increase the transparency of quality and cost information,” said Keith Nosbusch, chairman of the board and CEO of Rockwell Automation Inc., a founding member of the BHCG. “As a group, we look forward to working with UnitedHealthcare to empower employees and drive our health care system from volume to value.”
