PLANO, Texas - (Business Wire) UnitedHealthcare is launching an innovative health benefits program called
PlanBienSM that combines health benefit plans with unique services designed to help enhance the health and well-being of Spanish-speaking Hispanics and their families and dependents.
PlanBien transcends traditional health plans with a host of linguistically and culturally relevant health-information and customer-service programs tailored to meet the unique health care needs of Hispanics. These include: specialized educational materials printed in Spanish including ¿Que le dijo el doctor? (What did the doctor tell you?) – bilingual photo stories depicting how a family discusses common health concerns; trained and certified bilingual (English/Spanish) customer service representatives located in San Antonio available to answer questions and help plan participants locate Spanish-speaking doctors; a bilingual provider directory that lists physician offices with Spanish-speaking doctors and/or staff; and much more.
In addition, PlanBien customers have access to UnitedHealthcare’s national network of more than 560,000 physicians and 4,800 hospitals.
PlanBien is available now to small and medium-sized businesses, labor organizations and public-sector entities in select markets in Texas, including San Antonio, Austin, and the Houston area.
“In developing PlanBien, we enhanced UnitedHealthcare’s quality and cost-effective health benefit plans with innovative support services that help address two growing areas of concern: the need to reduce the rate of the uninsured among the Hispanic population; and the effort to help Hispanics – many of whom communicate more comfortably in Spanish – better understand their health plan and become more engaged in their health care. We believe PlanBien can make a positive impact on both fronts,” said Russell Bennett, UnitedHealthcare’s vice president of Latino Health Solutions at UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Hispanics comprise America’s fastest-growing work force, which is projected to grow 34 percent nationwide by 2014. Also, data published by the Yankelovich Hispanic Monitor indicate that the majority of Hispanics prefer to receive health care information in Spanish.
“Employers and organizations are increasingly aware that their employees and members reflect a very diverse society and, as such, demand more than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ health plan,” said Bennett. “UnitedHealthcare’s PlanBien is tailor-made for businesses and organizations with Spanish-speaking employees who may speak English at work but prefer to speak Spanish at home or when dealing with complex or personal topics like their health or health care benefits.”
Spanish-speaking customers enrolled in PlanBien receive a bilingual handbook tailored to the specific city or region where they reside and the health plans available in that region as part of the PlanBien portfolio. The handbook features a glossary of health and medical terms in Spanish, answers to “frequently asked questions” and – in some regions – a listing of local multi-specialty medical groups or a clinics that offer services in Spanish. Most of the medical groups and clinics featured in PlanBien listings are located in neighborhoods where many Hispanics live and work.
The Texas Association of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC) will begin offering PlanBien to its employees, affiliated chambers and member businesses. In addition, TAMACC named UnitedHealthcare its health plan of choice at the chamber's 33rd Annual Convention Business & Consumer Expo in Austin.
“Helping our employees, affiliated chambers and member businesses statewide have access to affordable, quality health care is one of our highest priorities,” said Arcilia C. Acosta, TAMACC chairman of the board. “I’ve spoken to many Hispanic businesspeople who’ve told me they want a health plan that delivers a full range of services – preventive health, bilingual customer-support services and easier access to doctors and staff who speak their language. UnitedHealthcare’s PlanBien offers that and more.”
More information about Latino Health Solutions, including additional bilingual resources such as wellness tools and health-related articles, are available at UnitedHealthcare’s bilingual (English/Spanish) Web site, www.uhclatino.com.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare (www.unitedhealthcare.com) provides a full spectrum of consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services to individuals, public sector employers and businesses of all sizes, including more than half of the Fortune 100 companies. The company organizes access to quality, affordable health care services on behalf of more than 25 million individual consumers, contracting directly with more than 560,000 physicians and care professionals and 4,800 hospitals to offer them broad, convenient access to services nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.
UnitedHealthcare
Kim Whitaker, 469-633-8536
kim_t_whitaker@uhc.com
