Competitors And Unitedhealth Group Peers

“UnitedHealthcare provides network-based health care benefits for a full spectrum of customers in the health benefits market” such as students and individuals; sole proprietorships to multi-site, large national employers; promotion of health benefits to Medicare retirees and beneficiaries; and provides Medicaid and community programs (UnitedHealthcare, 2010). UnitedHealth Group 2012 revenue was $11.3 billion. The company is continuously growing through various mergers and acquisitions within the US and Europe, increasing members and revenues (Keepournhspublic, n. d.).

Shortly after that in 1995, United HealthCare attained the MetraHealth Companies Inc. for $1.65 billion. During 1998, the company undertook a momentous realignment of its operations into six independent, yet strategically linked businesses. Each of the companies were dedicated to meeting the health and well-being needs of a distinctive market segment. To accurately reflect the breadth and structure of this new company, the corporate organization, United HealthCare Corporation, was renamed UnitedHealth

This week I began my 6-week internship at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE). The first day was a common orientation for all new employees, internally denoted to as the “onboarding process” where all employees are told they matter. This full-day session communicates the core mission, vision and goals of BCBSNE, organizational structure, operating objectives, and workplace culture. BCBSNE is a not-for-profit health insurance company that is focused on collaboration to find the best solution for their customers; in other words, they are customer-focused. Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many changes to the health insurance market required a change in the organizational structure and culture of BCBSNE. Through partnerships with providers, the goals of BCBSNE are to be responsive, accountable, minimize errors, and decrease costs – all components of the ACA. BCBSNE has strategically aligned their goals to those of the government-mandated goals, and implemented them at all levels of the organization, making them competitive in the health insurance market. I found this very fascinating: I was very excited after day one!

HealthSouth Corporation was incorporated in January 1984 in Birmingham, Alabma by the founder Richard M. Scrushy. HealthSouth Corporation is the leading provider of medical rehabilitation health care and outpatient surgery services in the United States. Richard M. Scrushy was the former CEO& Founder of HealthSouth Corporation, and there were 5 CFO which were Aaron Beam, Weston, Smith, Bill Owens, Michael Martin and Tadd Mcvay.

There are many factors that have influenced the changes of health care economics. Money and technology has definitely been the reason for the change of health care economics over the years. Money is want makes the economy evolve. There will be advancement in technology and there needs to be people are managing these to keep up with the changes. The U.S. has definitely progressed as far as influencing factors to change in new advancement of technology and medical care. Having a good financial manager in your organization will prepare for these upcoming advancements and changes. Money drives these advancements in

The complexity of health care could take the rates on a massive trajectory that does not favor the people covered. Therefore, the financial protection that the levels of health insurance covers, help to guard against the risks related to the unexpected costs of health care. The source of coverage could still have an impact by the insurance coverage and financing alternatives that one has access to; Conversely, private insurance, social insurance, and the national health services are the types of healthcare systems by funding and provision. As we look to health care coverage and the reform of Obamacare, I’ll analyze the impact of the uninsured in the industry and look for a resolution to improve the

The short term decision to start in a limited area and then only grow by one state in 2015 may have served the purpose of limiting risk during a time of uncertainty, however, in the long term, penetrating into new markets may be difficult because individuals currently enrolled are automatically re-enrolled at the end of the period. For Aetna, it may be harder to pull a member from a plan that they currently have. The largest healthcare insurance company UnitedHealth was more conservative than Aetna in the first two years, with participating starting in five states in year one then increasing to 24 in year two. With the addition of UnitedHealth in the same markets as Aetna and the unknown risks associated with new enrollees for the 2015 plan year, the short term could be crucial for Aetna. If Aetna is able to add to 2014’s positive results, and increase membership in markets that UnitedHealth entered, it will go a long way toward their long term goals of increasing membership in the individual and small group sector (Demko, 2014).

Regulations that prevent insurance companies from participating in interstate commerce have caused competition to grow stagnant in the United States. This lack of competition has allowed the adoption of wasteful procedures by healthcare providers, which in turn passes the increased expenses back to the insurance companies. Therein, insurance costs increase, crippling consumer’s cash flow and quality of life. While healthcare costs continue to rise, people must scrutinize the current healthcare system.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBS) is considered the largest and most experienced insurance company in Illinois. BCBS was founded in order to provide healthcare to teachers at a reasonable cost. It services over 7 million people. Its mission is “To promote the health and wellness of members and communities through accessible, cost-effective, quality health care” (Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2012). Blue Cross Blue Shield provides its customers with affordable health care. The parent company is Blue Cross Blue Shield Association its signature tag is “Creating Healthier Communities,” BCBS does not have any investors and the customers are considered the investors of the company and essentially who BCBS answers to. This is an important factor because they do not have to keep investors interest in the forefront of decision making, but rather they have the interest of their client in mind. (Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2012) In 2013 the Chicago based company reported profits of 684.3 million dollars. The company employees over 17,000 people. “Blue Shield of Illinois fell well below the $1 billion mark for the first time since 2009, in part because the insurance giant is setting aside money to offset expected losses from the troubled rollout of Obamacare” (Wang, 2014). Despite this setback it continues to expand over various parts of the United States. BCBS

GE Healthcare is a unit of the wider General Electric Company. It has a global orientation, employing more than 46, 000 staff committed to serving healthcare professionals and patients in over 100 countries. It is headquartered in the United Kingdom (UK)-the first GE business segment outside the United States. It has a turnover of approximately $ 17 billion. The headquarters hosts GE healthcare corporate offices as well as finance, sales, global sourcing departments, X-Ray marketing, manufacturing, design and shipping. The finance and sales departments at the headquarters handle GE Healthcare’s high level decisions, but each modality often has its own similar

United Health care promotes itself as a progressive, forward-looking company stating that it has made- and continues making tremendous investment in research and development as well as in technology and business process infrastructure investing approximately $3 billion in the past five years. (http://www.uhc.com/about_us.htm).

UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health care company, and a worldwide leader in helping people live healthier lives and taking the necessary steps in making the health system work better for everyone. The UnitedHealth group serves more than 85 million individuals worldwide with health benefits and services. In 2012, they produced revenues of $110.6 billion and were ranked number 17 in the Fortune 500. The economic and political segments would rank the highest in influencing the UnitedHealth Group.

In all of the U.S, United Healthcare is the only health carrier that has been working towards improving the effectiveness as well as quality of healthcare for people belonging to all the various nations. This organization has been trying to make the medicines more accessible to the people who need them; they have been trying to implement the services that could be used by the masses not only in terms of cheaper costs but better accessibility as well.

There are many different forms of competition among health care organizations. Some of them are the prices of services, different co-pays someone will have to pay out of pocket, lower premiums, they have to be competitive in the quality of the service in which they perform daily. The health care competition is being advertised every day. The competitive nature of business cause them to reach out to the community. The health care industry has to fight for the approval of the community, the government, the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies and of course the stake holders as well as future investors.

UnitedHealth Group continues to enjoy steady progress across its major business units. Over the past two years United has worked to strengthen and accelerate its investments in its core health insurance and health services (Optum) units. This disciplined approach has resulted in both top-line and bottom-line growth growth for the organization on a year-over-year basis, with primary growth coming from the senior and public sectors, as well as from strong results in Optum. Membership for the third quarter was unchanged sequentially from 2Q14 with medical membership holding steady at 44.9 million members.