Uber Caregive will start summer 2024 to help patients and caregivers
On May 15, Uber Health announced Uber Caregiver, a mobile app that will be available, starting in summer 2024, for caregivers and the people receiving their care.
In the coming months, Uber Health will begin working with Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and commercial insurance plans to provide enhanced support to caregivers in the United States. Additional capabilities will roll out later this year.
Those receiving care will be able to add a caregiver to their Uber profile, which will empower the caregiver to request and monitor rides and deliveries, and also apply the care-receiver's eligible health benefits to pay for the service.
More than 1 in 5 Americans, about 53 million people, are caregivers. A growing number of these caregivers are adults who care for their aging parents, sometimes while raising their own children, holding a job, and balancing household and family responsibilities.
Caregiving is demanding work with responsibilities that could include managing medication, assisting with daily activities and personal care, scheduling appointments, shopping for groceries, running errands, planning or preparing meals, maintaining a home or yard, and providing transportation. About half of caregivers say the role has increased their emotional stress; 39% say that they’re rarely or never relaxed. Almost 80% of caregivers pay for some care-receiver expenses out of pocket; the average caregiver spends about $7,000 annually out of pocket.
The responsibility of contacting a health plan to determine benefit eligibility, deciding how to pay for an appointment or delivery, and submitting expenses for reimbursement can add additional stress and complexity to the caregiving role, and can also contribute to financial strain. Uber Caregiver is designed to help relieve this stress by empowering caregivers to coordinate services and deliveries without worrying about what will or won’t be covered by insurance plans.
To learn more about Uber Caregiver, visit uberhealth.com/caregiver. Click on the gree area to see a video about frequently asked questions.
Sign up to be on the Waitlist for information about Uber Caregiver and your health care plan as it becomes available here: https://businesses.uber.com/uber-health-caregiver.html.