Internship Location: Minnetonka, MN
Organization Type: Private Sector
Policy Area: Healthcare
This summer, I had the opportunity to intern with UnitedHealth Group (UHG), a health insurance and services organization based out of Minnetonka, MN. UHG operates under two main lines of business: Optum (health services) and UnitedHealthCare (insurance/benefits). I was mainly tasked with work under the UnitedHealthCare (UHC) division, especially pertaining to their Medicare Advantage and retirement plans. Over the duration of the program, I completed a variety of tasks. I conducted needs analyses across diverse consumer populations, analyzed multiple product sets, handled consumer enrollment in optimal plan(s) / product(s), experienced networking opportunities, job shadowed a variety of departments, completed a capstone project and much more. The program included a comprehensive training curriculum on the organization’s processes, as well as hands-on experience for developmental purposes. This allowed me to gain industry knowledge as well as better my own communication and analytical skills going forward. UHG’s mission is to make the health care system work better for everyone, which I learned a lot about this summer. Specifically, the U.S healthcare system works well only for those with the “right” circumstances. Racial disparities, amongst other social disparities of health, are leaving many Americans without access to quality/affordable care. In order to truly help people live healthier lives, we must simplify and reduce the cost of healthcare so everyone may access it. With the aid of governmental funding, UnitedHealth Group is working to make this idea of our nation’s healthcare a reality one day.