People enrolled in UnitedHealthcare’s fully insured plans in Arizona and
Illinois can soon earn Walgreens Balance® Rewards points for completing
certain healthy activities. Plan participants will have the opportunity
to redeem points and save on merchandise at Walgreens in-store or online.
Select UnitedHealthcare Plan Participants Will Soon Have Access to Walgreens Balance Rewards for healthy choices (Photo: UnitedHealthcare)
Walgreens and UnitedHealthcare’s collaboration will integrate Walgreens
Balance Rewards for healthy choices™ with UnitedHealthcare’s Reward Me
to help people adopt healthy behaviors. UnitedHealthcare plan
participants in Arizona and Illinois can access the program via the
Reward Me tab on UnitedHealthcare’s mobile app Health4Me™
and earn Walgreens Balance Rewards loyalty points by completing healthy
activities such as daily exercise, eating fruits and vegetables, and
logging sufficient sleep.
Walgreens Balance Rewards for healthy choices is a first-of-its-kind
program that encourages simple steps, or “micro-habits,” that have the
potential to lead to a healthier life. Health plans have the ability to
define activities for their plan customers to earn Balance Rewards
points to help health plans meet higher patient engagement, as well as
HEDIS and 5 Star Medicare quality goals.
Walgreens Balance Rewards for healthy choices will be piloted with
UnitedHealthcare fully insured health plan participants in Arizona and
Illinois.
“Through our Balance Rewards for healthy choices initiative, Walgreens
encourages participants to adopt simple steps that can positively affect
a person’s health, and collaborating with leading health plans such as
UnitedHealthcare can further enhance the reach and impact of these
programs,” said Adam Pellegrini, divisional vice president of Digital
Health for Walgreens.
Walgreens and UnitedHealthcare’s collaboration is helping to meet the
growing demand for meaningful and relevant rewards that are easy to
access and redeem both online and offline, and highlights how health
plans and employers are using incentives to encourage healthy behaviors
among their employees and plan participants. The use of corporate
wellness incentives has doubled since 2009, with employees earning $594
in incentives each year on average, according to a recent study from the
National Business Group on Health.
UnitedHealthcare’s Reward Me, available through the Health4Me mobile
app, is a health-incentive initiative that enables plan participants to
keep track of their physical activity, healthy food selections and other
lifestyle choices that promote better well-being, and in the process
earn discounts on products and services, including up to 50 percent off
merchandise at a variety of national and local retailers. Health4Me is
available on iPhone® and Android® devices to UnitedHealthcare plan
participants and all consumers nationwide, to help people make more
informed choices regarding their care.
“We have seen that rewarding healthy behavior can help people make
sustained, positive behavior change,” said Dr. Vidya Raman-Tangella,
head of the Innovation Center of Excellence for UnitedHealthcare. “Our
collaboration with Walgreens will play an important role in encouraging
consumers to take a more active role in their overall health and
well-being, and realizing the promise of a truly activated, engaged and
supported consumer.”
About Walgreens
Walgreens (www.walgreens.com),
the nation's largest drugstore chain, constitutes the Retail Pharmacy
USA Division of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), the first
global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. More than 8
million customers interact with Walgreens each day in communities across
America, using the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer
goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and
wellness services and advice. Walgreens operates 8,232 drugstores with a
presence in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands. Walgreens digital business includes Walgreens.com,
drugstore.com, Beauty.com, SkinStore.com and VisionDirect.com. Walgreens
also manages more than 400 Healthcare Clinic and provider practice
locations around the country.
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 850,000 physicians
and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities
nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 45 million people in
health benefits and 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 @myUHC on Twitter.
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