Steve Cain - United Healthcare California
Transcript
Joelle Kaufman, Host, Kicking Cancer’s Ass: Hi, this is Joelle Kaufman and this is Kicking Cancer’s Ass. I’m so excited to have our next guest. Steve Kane runs UnitedHealthcare California. Yep. He’s the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, California, which in many places would be its own country.
Steve Cain, CEO, United Healthcare California: We met, I think it was Cancer at a Crossroads, which was a really cool event and I was happy to be part of it and, and really explain kind of what a payer’s role is in the journey of patients and members going through cancer.
And uh, I thought your enthusiasm and we connected after, after my panel was awesome and I could tell you’re obviously very devoted to, to this and, uh, you seem like a super fun person and I was, I’m super glad we connected, so
Joelle Kaufman, Host, Kicking Cancer’s Ass: Well, me
Steve Cain, CEO, United Healthcare California: awesome.
Joelle Kaufman, Host, Kicking Cancer’s Ass: me too. And you know, uh, my simple backstory is, you know, we’ve been dealing with cancer in my family for 43 years and we’ve had many different insurers. And given the kind of care we have been privileged to receive, we are very thankful. For health insurance, and we’ve had our own share of challenges, and I think it’s one of the least understood, um, with the, the third payer, with the hospital, with the doctor, with the patient.
I think most of us are just generally confused,
Steve Cain, CEO, United Healthcare California: Sure.
Joelle Kaufman, Host, Kicking Cancer’s Ass: so
Steve Cain, CEO, United Healthcare California: Hey, well listen, listen for the first off, healthcare is confusing and you know, it’s, it can be scary and it can be really hard to navigate at times. And, you know, we’re committed. We’re not perfect, nor is the entire payer universe perfect. But I think, you know, most of us are dedicated to trying to improve that process and that navigation and supporting members and making care more affordable, making it easier to access, easier to understand.
I mean, you know, so we’re all in this together, whether you’re on my side of the fence, if you’re on the provider side of the fence, the regulatory side of the fence, the pharmacy side of the fence, we all are in this together. And the more that we come together, I think, you know, we only make it easier for, you know, we’re talking about cancer patients today and that’s.
You know, an incredibly vulnerable population and, um, you know, it, it’s really incumbent upon us to, to figure it out. Right there, there we have to. We just have to,
Joelle Kaufman, Host, Kicking Cancer’s Ass: I love that you feel that way, and I agree with you, and I think it is gonna be. Collaboration. So I wanna talk about a moment that feels very isolating, right? The moment that a physician or, I mean, I’ve had people who it’s been a, uh, electronic health record alert, but you find out the biopsy, the test, whatever it is, it’s cancer.
You are now, as my sister would say, you are a statistic. You have cancer now. Would you walk us through what should happen next from an insurance perspective? Because I don’t think people realize that their insurance company is a resource here.
Steve Cain, CEO, United Healthcare California: Yeah, it’s, it’s first off, you’re so right, like you have cancer or three terrifying words, and they’re not only terrifying for the individual hearing them, they’re terrifying for their entire family and support system. We all know that there’s not one person that’s listening to this podcast who doesn’t have a family or friend who is diagnosed with cancer.
