Who they are
UnitedHealthcare (UHC) is a UnitedHealth Group company and one of the largest national health insurers. Its behavioral health is administered by Optum — also a UnitedHealth Group company — historically known as United Behavioral Health (UBH) and today as Optum Behavioral Health.
The behavioral health contracting entity
This is the signature carve-out in behavioral health. A facility contracting for UnitedHealthcare members' behavioral health services contracts with Optum, not UnitedHealthcare. The structure is publicly documented: Optum and UnitedHealthcare are corporate affiliates, and UHC engages its subsidiary as the behavioral health manager. Pursuing “a UnitedHealthcare contract” for behavioral health is, in practice, pursuing an Optum contract — knowing that is step one.
Levels of care
Optum contracts across the behavioral health continuum — inpatient psychiatric, detoxification, residential treatment, partial hospitalization (PHP), intensive outpatient (IOP), and outpatient. Covered benefits vary by plan.
Websites & portals
- uhc.com
UnitedHealthcare member and plan site.
- providerexpress.com
Optum's behavioral health provider portal — where UHC behavioral health credentialing runs. Facilities often don't realize it goes through Provider Express.
Scope
National.
Notable context
Optum is one of the two dominant national behavioral health networks — for most facilities, among the highest-leverage contracts to hold.
State guides
Featured states from our state-by-state guide to the behavioral health payer landscape:
California · Colorado · Florida · Illinois · Massachusetts · New York · North Carolina · Rhode Island · Texas
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