Dive Brief:
- Harken Health, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare, offers individual insurance plans with unlimited primary care provided a member uses one of Harken's clinics.
- Potential members can sign up for coverage via HealthCare.gov exchanges in Atlanta and Chicago. The carrier plans to expand into other cities.
- In order to appeal to the individual buyer, Harken uses different words than most insurance companies such as "membership fees" and "health coaches" and charges no copays at its centers. It also provides yoga, nutrition, and tai chi classes.
Dive Insight:
Harken Health was established in 2014 by executives at UnitedHealthcare who wanted to create an independent company with its own brand to focus on individual customers. CEO Tom Vanderheyden told the Star Tribune, "We really wanted to do a start-over, a do-over, in this market, to say: You know what, we're going to bring something that is very, very different." The company recently launched coverage and clinics Jan. 1.
There are several other new companies focusing on individual consumers, including startups Oscar and Zoom+.
"United is losing hundreds of millions on the public exchanges," Dave Chase wrote in Forbes. "Meanwhile, virtually no one has noticed perhaps the smartest move I’ve seen any health insurer make—build a de novo value-based primary care model from the ground up that is optimized for the consumer and small business market that the exchanges target...if successful, Harken positions United to succeed in a consumer-oriented, post-reform healthcare environment where service provision aligns with customer needs."