Monday, January 13th
2025 Medicare Advantage Plan Reviews
United Healthcare
- Quoted prices $0 to $34 monthly premium
- $68.26 to $84.41/month in prescriptions
- Standalone provider with its own insurance
- Quick communication
- Helpful online resources
- Online enrollment
At United Healthcare, the company offers help for customers spanning from early life through working years into retirement. Offering a variety of health benefit plans across the United States, United Healthcare offers coverage for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, accommodating a range of budgets. Collaborating with an extensive network of over 1.3 million physicians and care professionals, along with 6,700 hospitals and care facilities nationwide and internationally, the company provides global solutions to simplify the healthcare experience.
United keeps you well-informed
When you visit the United Healthcare website, you'll discover a wealth of resources to help you understand their Medicare Advantage Plans. Under the "Learn About Medicare" section, you can find insightful blogs covering topics like eligibility, coverage options, and types of plans (including details on Medicare Advantage Plans) as well as a variety of research articles to keep you informed.
Pop in your zip and go
United Healthcare was one of our favorite sites due to its powerful online quote tool. All you have to do to see quotes and details about Medicare Advantage Plans is pop your zip code into the search bar and a list of Advantage Plans offered by United Healthcare will be at your fingertips. Since UnitedHealthCare offers its own plans rather than brokering for others, you'll only see options from United Healthcare itself, but this means you don't have to sift through as many options, and comparing prices becomes a quick and easy process.
Quick quotes with lower-than-average prices
To further narrow down the options we put in the details for our example customer. This customer lives in Illinois and has one prescription for a 2.5 MG dose of Xarelto. United Healthcare has 5 total Medicare Advantage Plans. This was fairly disappointing considering that many of the other providers and brokers we evaluated had 10+ plans to choose from. However, these all included the key details of our example customer, which made it easier to browse our best choices. With the details for our example customer we found the following prices:
- $0 to $34 per month for the premium
- $819.18 to $1,012.98 /year or $68.26 to $84.41 /month for prescriptions
These prices, especially those for the prescriptions, were some of the lowest on the market during the time of our review.
Easy online enrollment
The best part about United Healthcare is that you can complete enrollment entirely online. Instead of worrying about lengthy phone calls or long approval periods, you can put in your information on United Healthcare's website and be enrolled in your Medicare Advantage Plan in just 10 minutes. The process is streamlined with just a few personal questions, some details about your medical history, and a brief review online, and you'll be all set for your Medicare Advantage Plan. In an industry where the enrollment process is often difficult or lengthy, United Healthcare steps up with a more modern solution. Plus, if you need help for any reason, you can still call a rep at any time or use the online chat feature to answer your questions.
Customers don't recommend
Unfortunately, despite its more modern approach, United Healthcare is one of the lowest-rated insurance companies across our review. The company has an "NR” rating from the Better Business Bureau and a 1.1-star average rating on the BBB site. On other third-party review sites, the news is just as bad. With a 1.6-star rating being the highest we could find, customers across the board are complaining about United Healthcare. Customers are saying that United Healthcare has taken away (or reduced) many of the benefits of the insurance plans, making it more expensive to keep those benefits, or forcing customers to look for coverage elsewhere. Customers have trouble getting UHC to cover things even if they're "in-network” and there are tons of complaints about customer service.
Negatives not worth the lower costs
While the pricing is solid and the online enrollment is a plus, the reviews for United Healthcare more or less cancel out the benefits offered by this company. Considering that other providers offer better customer service overall and have fewer customer complaints, United Healthcare falls close to the bottom of the list. While its benefits earn it a little bonus, this provider earns a lower rating due to the high volume of negative feedback. We don't recommend choosing United Healthcare for your Medicare Advantage Plan.
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The 10 Best Medicare Advantage Plans
Which Medicare Advantage Plan Provider is the Best?
If you or a family member is approaching the age of 65, or if you are soon eligible for Medicare Parts A and B, now is the perfect time to start looking at coverage to go along with your Medicare. While standard Medicare covers many of your medical expenses, it may be somewhat expensive. So looking into another option, Medicare Advantage Plans, might be in your best interest.
Medicare Advantage, also known as Medicare Part C, is an alternative to traditional Medicare offered by private insurance companies approved by Medicare. These plans provide all the coverage of Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance) and often include additional benefits, such as vision, dental, and prescription drug coverage. Some plans even offer health and wellness programs to encourage preventive care like fitness, chiropractic, and physical therapy.
Medicare Advantage Plan FAQ
Continued from above...
One way to think of a Medicare Advantage Plan is like an all-inclusive resort stay. While you need to stick with a particular hotel (or, in this case, medical network), everything is handled for you from basic meals to entertainment (or prescriptions and medical specialists). Much like an all-inclusive resort experience, Medicare Advantage consolidates various features of Medicare, so your prescription drug coverage and services like dental, vision, and hearing are all taken care of in one place. These elements would typically require piecing together separate standalone plans which can be complicated and frustrating. Instead, you can get everything you need at once.
Premiums for Medicare Advantage plans change based on the provider and the specific plan. While you might find policies with $0 monthly payments, they can come with increased out-of-pocket expenses, such as office visit copays and annual deductibles. However, basics like primary care and prescriptions are often partially (if not completely) covered. On the other hand, if you're looking to see a specialist, you might prefer a plan with a higher premium to cover the cost of those visits.
When it comes to signing up for a Medicare Advantage Plan, there are two ways to find what you need: approaching an insurance company directly or collaborating with a broker. Choosing an insurer you already know and trust, potentially one that has been your healthcare provider before, might be the best way to go if you're looking for peace of mind and security. Typically, you can rely on getting the lowest possible premium quotes from that particular company. However, going through a broker or referral service can help you compare policies from different insurers at a glance. In this case, you might find better coverage from a competitor, and you can trust the broker to work on your behalf.
Regardless of the path you choose, you'll want to familiarize yourself with the different Medicare Advantage Plans, their benefits, and average premium costs for your demographic (age, gender, location). This helps you avoid feeling pressured to commit to a policy that may not align with your needs. Keep in mind that to apply for any Medicare Advantage Plan, you'll need your Medicare number, so make sure you complete the necessary steps to enroll in Medicare (A and B) before selecting your Advantage coverage.
If all of this sounds like a lot, don't worry. We've got your back. To simplify the process of finding Medicare Advantage Plans that are worth your time, we've put together a few criteria that might help you sort it all out:
- Cost. When it comes to the cost of Medicare Advantage Plans, your health and your pre-existing conditions or your prescriptions may change the costs depending on which company you choose. While many options offer a $0 premium, you'll want to be sure that the premium includes all the benefits you're looking for. So, keep an eye on the deals and benefits to make sure the cost is worth it. Sometimes your prescriptions might cost less with different plans too, so watch out for those monthly costs as you research.
- Coverage. There are tons of different plans and different names to choose from. As you look through Medicare Advantage Plans, make sure that you spend your time researching providers that offer coverage in your state. You'll also want to make sure that if you need prescription coverage, that's included in the options, as well as your primary care physician if you don't want to switch to someone else "in-network”.
- Reputation. To get a smooth and stress-free experience, we recommend checking out reputable companies first. Whether you go through an insurance company directly or a broker, customer reviews and Better Business Bureau ratings can give you insight into a company's practices. If customers like you are happy (or unhappy) it can help you choose the best match for you.
To help you keep it simple and focus on your health and well-being, Top Consumer Reviews has reviewed and ranked the best Medicare Advantage Plans available today. This way, you can save time and money as you join (or change to) a new plan. We hope our research will help you find the best deals, the friendliest reps, and the top coverage so you can enjoy your golden years stress-free!
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