UnitedHealthcare Opens Two Health Benefit Stores in Brooklyn

UnitedHealthcare opened two health benefits stores in Brooklyn, continuing the company’s nearly 20-year commitment to serving local residents with comprehensive and personalized customer service through retail locations in their communities.

A celebration marking the grand openings was held earlier today at the 30 Flatbush Ave. location.

The consumer-support centers give Medicare, Medicaid, employer-sponsored and individual health plan participants access to customer service professionals who can answer questions about health care benefits and help them find and enroll in plans that meet their health care and budget needs. The center staff can provide consumers shopping for individual coverage information about plan options both on and off the New York State of Health Marketplace.

“Neighborhood health benefit stores give people convenient and personalized service to help them make more educated decisions when purchasing and using health benefits,” said Tom Paul, chief consumer officer, UnitedHealthcare. “UnitedHealthcare’s two new Brooklyn stores may be close in proximity, yet each caters to the unique needs of people in these neighborhoods, providing them with a more personal health care experience.”

UnitedHealthcare established its first storefront in New York City’s Chinatown in 1994, providing culturally relevant health benefits services. Over the past 20 years, UnitedHealthcare opened additional support centers across the country, including its Asian Initiatives Queens Plaza in Flushing, New York. Asian Plaza, which opened in 2011, is now the model for UnitedHealthcare’s storefronts across the country, providing one-on-one support for consumers and businesses seeking health insurance and health care services.

Today, UnitedHealthcare operates more than 20 storefronts year-round in 11 states, with plans to open several more in 2015.

The new UnitedHealthcare Multi-Cultural Center on Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn is designed to provide Medicaid beneficiaries with customer service support and information about their coverage options. Visitors can discuss their health benefits with customer service professionals fluent in both English and Spanish. If they are ready to enroll in one of UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid plans, they can do so right at the store with the help of a licensed sales agent.

The center’s staff is also able to help consumers seeking information about Medicare and individual health insurance options. The Flatbush Avenue center has a large community room where UnitedHealthcare will host health education forums and other events with local community groups.

“UnitedHealthcare is opening this center in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood to provide people with simple, personalized information about their Medicaid coverage options and their health and well-being needs,” said Pat Celli, president, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of New York. “We look forward to providing additional health and wellness education for residents in the community.”

The new Asian Resource Center on Eighth Avenue in Sunset Park will focus on serving the Asian-American community, providing Medicare beneficiaries with customer service support and information about their Medicare coverage options. Visitors can meet with customer service professionals to discuss their health benefits in English or Chinese, and licensed sales agents can help visitors who are ready to enroll in one of UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare plans.

“Over the years, our dedicated customer centers have had a positive impact on local communities, helping people get health benefits and additional services they need to meet their unique health care needs,” said Chris Law, national vice president of UnitedHealthcare’s Asian Initiatives. “We look forward to bringing this level of care and service to Brooklyn.”

These new centers bring the total number of UnitedHealthcare storefronts in New York to five. In 2012, UnitedHealthcare opened a resource center in Hempstead, New York, to serve the health care needs of Medicaid-eligible residents on Long Island. In addition to the Medicaid-focused locations in Brooklyn and Hempstead, UnitedHealthcare centers in Chinatown and Queens enable people to learn about UnitedHealthcare’s portfolio of commercial, Medicare and Medicaid plans and get answers to questions about their health care coverage.

For more information about UnitedHealthcare’s portfolio of Medicaid plans, visit www.uhccommunityplan.com. More information about UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare plans is available at www.UHCMedicarePlans.com or www.UHCAsianMedicare.com/ca-ko/Default.aspx. For more information on other UnitedHealthcare plans, visit www.uhc.com.

UnitedHealthcare employs more than 4,000 people and serves more than 3.8 million New Yorkers, with a care provider network of 231 hospitals and more than 64,000 physicians and other health care professionals statewide.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 800,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 45 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.

A sales person will be present with information and applications. For accommodation of persons with special needs at sales meetings, call (877) 596-3258 (TTY: 711), 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. local time, seven days a week.

The family of UnitedHealthcare® Medicare Solutions plans are insured or covered by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or one of its affiliates, a Medicare Advantage organization with a Medicare contract and a Medicare-approved Part D sponsor.

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