UnitedHealthcare adds medical bills payments to its mobile app

Health4Me

UnitedHealthcare has updated its mobile app Health4Me with several new features, including a secure electronic bill-payment service, expense management capability, Fitbit integration and live streaming of UHC.TV.

The mobile bill-payment service is available to more than 13 million UnitedHealthcare plan participants nationwide, allowing users to comparison shop for health care based on quality and cost. Users are able to pay their medical bills with their credit card, debit card, health savings or bank account. Moreover, the application helps consumers manage and understand their claims, and monitor medical expenses for tax reporting.

Another new feature enables physical activity tracking with wearable devices such as those made by Fitbit. It’s not clear whether UnitedHealthcare will somehow incorporate this data into its plans — so it can provide savings to those who exercise — but chances are they are not doing it just to collect data.

Finally, the application provides users with access to streaming content from UHC.TV, which is an internet TV channel with health and wellness information.

The Health4Me app is available to all consumers on iPhone and Android devices and has been downloaded more than 1 million times. It allows users to locate nearby health care providers, and convenience care, urgent care and emergency care facilities, as well as review market average prices for more than 755 medical services across 500 episodes of care. For UnitedHealthcare plan participants, the estimates are based on actual contracted rates with care providers and take into account an individual’s real-time account balances, when applicable.