UnitedHealth speeds payments to care providers

UnitedHealth Group announced Tuesday it will accelerate payments and other financial support to health care providers to help address the short-term financial pressure caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We are grateful to the health care providers and their teams who are on the front lines battling COVID-19,” UnitedHealth Group CEO David S. Wichmann said. “The actions we are taking today will provide nearly $2 billion in accelerated payments and financial support so our care provider partners can focus on delivering needed care.”

UnitedHealth Group’s move applies to UnitedHealthcare’s fully insured commercial, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid businesses. Other financial support currently includes the provision for up to $125 million in small business loans to clinical operators with whom OptumHealth is partnered. “Many health systems are having to make very difficult decisions due to the cost of preparing and responding to COVID-19 plus the reduction or elimination of elective procedures, so steps like this will meaningfully mitigate the need to make some of these decisions.”

The company already had taken steps to streamline processes because of the outbreak, including suspending prior authorization requirements to post-acute care settings and when a member transfers to a new provider; extending the filing deadlines for claims for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and individual and group market health plans; and provisional credentialing to make it easier for out-of-network providers to participate in the company’s networks.