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UnitedHealthcareUsing a UnitedHealthcare card for virtual outpatient treatment.
On a lot of UnitedHealthcare cards the behavioral health phone number is not the medical one. That second number is the line that answers questions about intensive outpatient care, and it is the one we call. Read the back of your card and we take it from there.
Shift is out of network with UnitedHealthcare.
We are not part of any commercial carrier network. What matters more is what your own plan pays out of network for behavioral health, and that varies by employer, by plan and by year. We read yours, turn it into a dollar figure for a week of care, and give you that figure before your first appointment.
What we can say about your plan before we read it.
Covered by many PPO plans. We check your benefits first.
We do not waive cost shares, we do not tell you a number we have not verified, and we do not promise a result. We read your plan, we tell you what it pays toward intensive outpatient care, and you decide after that.
What your plan sets, and what we do about it.
The numbers are not on this page on purpose. Yours are specific to your plan and your plan year, and we pull them with you.
What your plan document sets
- An allowed amount for each kind of visit or day of care.
- A deductible you meet before the plan starts paying its share.
- A coinsurance split that applies after the deductible.
- An out-of-pocket maximum for the plan year.
- An authorization step for intensive outpatient care.
What we do
- Call the behavioral health number on the back of your card and pull the out-of-network figures for the level of care you need.
- Turn those figures into the dollar cost of a week of treatment and give you that number in writing.
- Open the authorization and stay on the case through review and renewal.
- Bill the plan directly, so you are not fronting the claim and chasing a reimbursement.
Two numbers on one card, and only one of them helps.
Medical questions and behavioral health questions are often answered by different phone lines on the same plan. Calling the wrong one is how people are told nothing is available when something is.
That is the number we call
Send us the member ID, the group number and the behavioral health phone number printed on the card. We open the benefit check on the right line the first time.
Check your benefits If the card says UMRYou want the UMR page
UMR appears on self-funded employer plans, where the employer's plan document sets the benefit. The questions are different enough to deserve their own page.
UMRUnitedHealthcare, answered plainly.
Why does the behavioral health number differ from the medical number?
Many employer plans route behavioral health through a separate administrator or a separate service line. The card usually prints both. We ask for the behavioral health number specifically so the first call lands in the right place.
Does out of network mean I pay everything?
No. It means there is no contracted rate between Shift and the carrier. Your plan document still sets an allowed amount, a deductible, a coinsurance split and an out-of-pocket maximum for out-of-network care. Those numbers decide what you owe, and we pull them before you start.
Will you bill the plan or do I pay up front?
We bill the plan directly. You pay the cost share your own plan sets, and we tell you that figure before your first appointment rather than after it.
What if my plan requires authorization?
Most do for intensive outpatient care. We open the authorization, submit the clinical documentation, and stay on the case through review and renewal. That is our work, not yours.
Send us the UnitedHealthcare card and the behavioral health number.
Member ID, group number and the behavioral health phone line from the back of the card. We come back with your out-of-network deductible, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum, and what a week of intensive outpatient care would cost you.
If you or someone you are with is in immediate danger, call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. Shift Support Network is an outpatient program and is not an emergency service.
Not the card you hold.
Shift also publishes a page for UMR, Aetna, Cigna, Anthem and Elevance, Blue Shield of California, Carelon, Magellan, Kaiser and union and Taft-Hartley funds.
Background reading: how out-of-network works, out-of-network for IOP and PHP in plain English, and the program itself.