Aetna or United Health Care?

I've had Aetna PPO for 15 years. The only problem I can remember is when my son was born they wouldn't cover something because the dr. had submitted it in my name and not his.

Other than that they've been good about covering things. I love the PPO option where I don't have to get referrals. If I decide I need to see a specialist, I just make an appt.

They are both A+ rated companies, so you can't really go wrong with either. We've had both and honestly, couldn't tell a difference at all.
They are all gonna be comparable when you select a level of coverage, competition keeps it that way.
Kids, no kids, pre-existing conditions, predisposed conditions etc. All things to consider when picking one or the other.

I have experience with both United and Aetna. United was horrible! They were always losing my claim forms (I live overseas and get reimbursed by my insurance company), especially those with large charges. I would have to submit them two or three times before United finally "received" them. I always had the feeling that United "lost" my forms so they wouldn't have to pay. It seems like I was always on the phone fighting with them to get them to pay my claims. When I called United, it took forever to be able to talk with a person and many of the representatives seemed incompetent. I was constantly being transferred to a different person and having to repeat my issues. They didn't care that it costs a small fortune to call an 800 number from overseas.

I have been witih Aetna (Global Benefits) for the past 7 years and have been very satisfied with them. Aetna has never lost a claim form and has paid everything once I hit my deductible. When I have had to call Aetna, the representatives are knowledgeable. Aetna also has 24-hour phone service, which is a bonus for those of us on different time zones. Their 24-hour hotline is also toll-free from overseas.

They are both terrible (hubs has United and used to have Aetna). Since you are choosing between pretty much even plans I would look up their doctors and see which ones you like better (or which one is accepted by your doctor, if you want to keep them).
If that is the same as well, go with the lower payroll deduction.
Good luck!

Know nothing about United but currently have Aetna. Other than " normal " insurance / coverage frustrations, I don't mind Aetna. They have great customer service & are always helpful when I need any info.

I have heard that United is AWFUL. So I would go with Aetna---sorry you are in this position.

I've had one experience with Aetna, and they are awful. (I was on Aetna for about a year). They won't ever pay a claim without a hassle. I had to keep a binder of EOBs to make sure they were paying claims correctly. I've even had several doctors confirm that they are an absolute NIGHTMARE to deal with.

I've had UHC before for a length of time, and have no complaints.

United is dreadful. Seriously terrible company. And they say we have health care choice!

I have Aetna and am not a big fan. We have to have private insurance because my husbands job does not supply it and I am a stay at home mom.

We had a deductible of 7500 per person. I have tumors on my thyroid. They are benign but after I had them biopsied Aetna raised my coverage to a 15,000 deductible. I mean really? Then what's the point. I swear the only reason why we keep this policy (at 400 dollars a month) is so that if one of us ever has a huge medical crisis we won't be completely bankrupt, close but probably not completely. And so they won't deny us if we ever need an emergency room visit. I've personally seen it happen.

I had United with my old job and never had a problem with them. I guess it really does depend on what state you are in. I was in MO with United and am in FL with Aetna.

I will tell you that I have nothing but admiration for UHC. I'm sure there are stories to counter mine but for me, they are amazing. Four years ago, my son contracted a deadly infection that nearly killed him. Just over 100 days in the hospital and rehab added up to a 2.5 million dollar bill. UHC paid $1.7 million dollars for my son's care (it was an HMO so the contracted fees were less). Never once did they balk at any care he needed and were instead extremely supportive whenever we had to talk to them. Great, great company as far as our family is concerned.

I am not familiar with United Health Care, but I did have Aetna about 14 years ago, when pregnant with my daughter and they were awful. I disovered that I was high risk due to fibroids that I didn't even know I had, so I had to be closely monitored. Around my 3rd month I had horrible cramping and fearing something was wrong, went to the emergency room - it was the fibroids growing. Hurt like hell. Aetna did not want to pay my emergency room bill. I had to contest their decision and fight them on it. Getting bills corrected was always a challenge. Maybe they have improved, but I would not try them again, personally.

I believe United covers families on Medicaid/Medicare, if that means/says anything.

I'm OCD when it comes to Health Insurance. With that being said, I am really quite knowledgeful, and will check all of my claims, and billed medical appts to make sure they are all accurate. I have United for medical and Aetna for dental. United for the most part has been decent. I am under the Consumer driven option, which is different then their other plans. For me, it works.

I would add that with them, and probably other insurance companies you definetly need to make sure that all medical appts, equipment and other things needed like labwork and x-rays are all IN-NETWORK. IF not, you will get billed quite handsomely. That's where they get you.

I don't have Aetna, but as far as my dental goes with them, they are good.

I had united with my last birth.... in a city of o er 250,000 they had no network. Doctors quit taking them because they are difficult to work with. There were a few doctors in very small towns around that took then, but no obs. They wanted me to drive 2 hours to the nearest hospital to deliver ans a very small hospital at that. I had to go through tons of gap exceptions for each apt it was a pain. I called them after the birth and added her to my insurance....she wasnt added because they neglected to tell me that has to come from my employer. So we are now paying for her hospital bill. I could go on and on.

I have United Healthcare, and I hate them. My daughter receives speech therapy caused by developmental delay. Last year, they covered it, BUT my provider was out of network (common with United). So, I had to submit the claim myself, and I would include the reports showing medical necessity. They routinely sat on the claim about 30 days, then denied it, then evaluated it once I appealed the denial. Then, they would claim that the provider had not sent them the reports they requested, and I would confirm that the reports had been sent by the provider. THEN, they would claim they must be lost, so the provider would need to fax them. Then they would sit on the claim again. It took until nearly Christmas to have the bills from September paid for treatment that was necessary and which had said up front in the evaluations would be required for at least 6-9 months (ie. - they shouldn't have required new documentation two months into it). This year, they are in network with the speech provider, but now they have an arbitrary 30 session limit that was long ago expired.

My daughter now also has physical and occupational therapy due to developmental delays related to motor skills and sensory processing. My insurance covers an unlimited number of visits for physical and occupational therapy caused by developmental delay. The provider is out of network, so they will cover 60%. The initial evaluation was $650, and the therapy is twice a week for a total of almost $300 per week. Paying up front, it's a bit like my savings account sprung a giant leak. The coverage for this seems pretty straightforward. In fact, I notified them prior to the evaluation and therapy and asked about coverage, so they even confirmed it for me up front. From July through now, they have yet to pay a dime...I have nearly $4,000 in outstanding claims that increases by $280 a week. First, they denied the claim for the evaluation stating "no coverage" and a reason so vague that neither the provider nor I could even understand the basis. I contacted them for explanation and was told they needed reports, clinical notes, etc before they could cover. I suggested that they should have done that as part of their claim evaluation vs. denying it without even investigating the validity. They said they would reevaluate. I waited a month, contacted them for status, and they informed me that I had not sent them the reports, clinical notes, etc. so they weren't doing anything. I told them they didn't ASK me to send it, they said they were getting the info and that I really thought that was their responsibility in evaluating the claim. I informed them that I would happily fax what I have but do not believe they are processing my claims with good faith. That got their attention a bit. Within about four hours of telling them that, the therapy provider notified me that my health insurance carrier had just called them to ask them to fax this information. They told my insurance carrier that they had sent the information to them twice already, and United said that they didn't receive the documents and they must be lost. So, they needed it faxed to them. That was a week ago....I thoroughly expect them to deny all of the claims again at least one more time. The claim is clearly covered, but United's standard protocol seems to be to hold the claim nearly 30 days, deny it, evaluate it if the denial is questioned, supposedly not receive the documents needed to assess the claim and then hold the claim another 30 days after definitively receiving any needed reports. For my situation, I anticipate that I am going to need to hire an attorney to get the claims paid, despite how clearcut it is is. My daughter's treatment will last 6 months and will continue at least another 6 months if results are being seen. I'm looking at nearly $15,000 in treatment, of which United should cover $8,000 with me covering $7,000 (40% and $1000 deductible). Between my employer and myself, United receives over $10,000 premium for my policy, and they definitely get their money every payday.

Yep, I seriously dislike United Healthcare. I've only had Aetna for dental coverage, and they handled that with not problem at all.

Of course on line reviews are horrid for any insurance company since people who are unhappy are usually the ones who take the time to write complaints.

I have Unitedhealthcare and find that depending on where you live depends on your satisfaction with their networks. Where I'm located there is a large network of hospitals and providers so it's easy to get care. They streamlined a lot of their processes over the last 15 years so it's easier to get things paid right the first time.

Now does that mean I've never had things misprocessed? Certainly now however they have a feature called myuhc.com right on line. I use to it double check claims and there's a link where you can question how something was processed. The couple of mistakes were corrected using the question link so I didn't even have to call and navigate the phone system. So easy.

myuhc.com also lets you update certain things, request cards, and check your coverage for different procedures easily.

We live in Mesa and my husband and kids are on UHC. I've been very happy with them. They are always very nice when we call and even assisted us in appealing an amublance bill my daughter had in February (which they ended up covering 80% of). I've had Aetna in years past and not had problems with them. I think that as long as your current doctor(s) take both and if the costs are the same, you're probably ok with either one. Not sure if you have a lot of medical claims/issues during the year but if not, again either one is probably fine. If I had to pick right now, I'd choose UHC but that's mostly because my experiences with them are recent and have been positive. As with anything you'll hear a zillion stories of how horrible or great either of them are. It really comes down to the coverage provided and the plan your employeer has choosen. Good luck!

I would check to see which one allows you to contiue with your current doctors

I used to have UHC a few years ago. They denied an expensize claim once, and after going back and forth with hospital billing and insurance reps, I threatened to formally appeal the claim. Well, all of a sudden, the insurance people magically worked out the "miscommunication" with the hospital billing dept.