NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UnitedHealthcare and Oxford plan participants and their dependents in New York and New Jersey who are enrolled in large group, fully insured employer-sponsored health plans will be able to buy healthy foods at discounted prices through the Healthy Savings® program.
Healthy Savings can reduce monthly grocery bills for eligible users by more than $150. Shortly after their health plan renewal date, program participants will receive a Healthy Savings card in the mail and can download the Healthy Savings mobile app. After the card is activated online at www.HealthySavingsUHC.com or www.HealthySavingsOxford.com, participants can purchase prequalified healthy foods from more than 200 food and beverage brands.
With Healthy Savings, there is no clipping, printing or downloading of coupons, as discounts are pre-loaded on accounts each week. Users can scan their cards or mobile apps at checkout. The discounts are instantly subtracted from their bill and are printed on their receipt. Eligible participants can use the Healthy Savings program at any of the more than 180 Stop & Shop® and Western Beef® store locations. The Healthy Savings mobile app, available at no charge at iTunes® or Google Play™, enables people to view available discounts, find nearby participating grocery stores and track accumulated savings through the program.
Weekly discounts are offered on products in the healthiest one-third of items in a grocery store, including fresh produce, milk, whole-grain bread, lean meats, eggs, yogurt and many other products. The food items are qualified through the nationally renowned Guiding Stars® nutrition guidance system, which rates the nutritional quality of food using a patented scientific algorithm that gives positive points for vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and whole grains, and negative points for things like fats, cholesterol, sodium and sugar.
“Healthy Savings makes choosing healthier food easier and more affordable for thousands of people throughout New York and New Jersey,” said Michael McGuire, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of New York. “We believe individuals and families will appreciate Healthy Savings because it enables them to improve their diets, which can improve their health and well-being.”
According to America’s Health Rankings® Annual Report, 26 percent of adults in New York and 27 percent of adults in New Jersey are obese. Healthy Savings is designed to help people take steps toward a healthier diet.
UnitedHealthcare made Healthy Savings available last year to people enrolled in fully insured employer-based and individual health plans in parts of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and Washington, D.C. To date, program participants have saved more than $1.4 million.
“We are on a mission to improve the way America eats,” said Chad Kelly, chief marketing officer at Solutran, Inc., the parent company and technology provider of Healthy Savings. “Access to and affordability of healthy food continues to be barriers to better health and well-being. Healthy Savings is making a big difference by breaking down these barriers.”
UnitedHealthcare serves nearly 6 million people in New York and New Jersey with a network of more than 550 hospitals and 130,000 physicians and other care providers.
About Healthy Savings®
Healthy
Savings® is a program which enables health insurance members
to save on healthier foods without having to clip, print, or download
coupons. Solutran S3 technology serves as the supporting substantiation
platform behind the Healthy Savings program. The mission of Healthy
Savings is to unlock the enormous potential within each individual with
the goal of working together to improve the way America eats. The
technology behind the Healthy Savings program is powered by Solutran,
Inc., a Minnesota-based technology company specializing in electronic
benefit transfer systems and payment solutions.
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, military service members, retirees
and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and
contracts directly with more than 1 million physicians and care
professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide.
UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:
UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more
information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com
or follow @UHC on Twitter.
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