UnitedHealthcare Helps People Affected by Midwest Floods, Supports Red Cross Relief Efforts

  • Assistance for people who need immediate access to care or early refills of prescription medications

OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- UnitedHealthcare is helping people affected by the ongoing floods in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.

Assistance includes: special measures to help ensure UnitedHealthcare plan participants residing in counties that have declared a state of emergency continue to have access to care and prescription medications; and financial support of the Red Cross’ relief efforts in affected communities.

  • Access to Care: Plan participants who have been displaced from their homes or whose network medical facility or physician is not accessible, and require assistance or special accommodations, can call customer care at the number located on the back of their medical ID card for assistance. If necessary, customer care professionals will help affected individuals obtain in-network benefits for covered services. If a network provider is not available, UnitedHealthcare will cover the non-network service at the in-network benefit level. UnitedHealthcare plan participants who do not have their medical ID card may call 866-633-2446, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. (in the local time zone), Monday through Friday.

    This applies to plan participants enrolled in all fully insured commercial products, Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement plans. This policy is effective immediately and will remain active until at least July 12, 2011.
  • Early Prescription Refills: People who have been displaced or do not have access to their covered medications will be able to have prescriptions refilled early. Plan participants are asked to alert their pharmacists that they were affected by the floods in order to ensure their early prescription refill requests are processed appropriately.

    This includes plan participants enrolled in all fully insured commercial products, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement or Medicare Part D offerings insured through UnitedHealthcare. For mail-order delivery service to affected areas or any other questions related to their prescriptions, people are encouraged to call the pharmacy number on the back of their medical or prescription ID card, or speak directly to a pharmacist about their situation in order to get an early refill, if necessary.

    This policy is effective immediately and will remain active until at least July 12, 2011.
  • Support for the American Red Cross: Through a $500,000 annual commitment, UnitedHealthcare participates in the Annual Disaster Giving Program of the American Red Cross, which is offering shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to people in the affected communities.

UnitedHealthcare will continue to monitor the situation and adjust its policies as necessary.

About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 650,000 physicians and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.



CONTACT:

UnitedHealthcare
Jessica Kostner, 952-992-6289

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Iowa  Kansas  Minnesota  Nebraska

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Women  Practice Management  Health  Hospitals  Pharmaceutical  Philanthropy  Children  Consumer  Family  Foundation  Fund Raising

MEDIA:

Logo
 Logo