WHITE PAPER | 2021
Cost Savings for Patients
$15,884 $12,202
$7,632
23% REDUCTION
52% REDUCTION
AVERAGE COST OF LOW-BACK INJURY
RECEIVING 75% CARE FROM CHIROPRACTOR
RECEIVING 90% CARE FROM CHIROPRACTOR
The company says it hopes to improve health outcomes, reduce costs and avoid often-unnecessary invasive methods and opioid prescriptions. UnitedHealthcare based its decision on a new report about non-pharmaceutical care for low-back pain issued by OptumLabs.
With the updated benefit design, UnitedHealthcare plan participants enrolled in eligible employer-sponsored health plans can pay nothing out of pocket (including waived deductibles or copays) for the first three visits if they select physical therapy or chiropractic care for the management of low-back pain. Based on its own analysis, the insurer says this benefit design has the potential to reduce the number of spinal imaging tests by 22 percent, spinal surgeries by 21 percent and opioid use by 19 percent — while lowering the total cost of care for eligible plan participants and employers.13
Critically, the OptumLabs study confirmed that higher out-of-pocket costs made it less likely for patients with low-back pain to choose clinically recommended non-invasive care, such as physical therapy and chiropractic.
UnitedHealthcare’s coverage changes are a great example of how evidence from rigorous research can trigger innovation, leading to positive changes for health-plan members’ lives. The OptumLabs report that persuaded UnitedHealthcare to ease access to chiropractic care for its policyholders could show more health plans how to play an important role in making it easier for consumers to consider non-invasive therapies for lower-back pain.
PALMER COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC
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