UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer, has anovel idea to cut costs: Give people more stuff for free.

The company has set up a subsidiary firm, Harken Health, thatgives its members access to unlimited primary care services. Beyondvisits to the doctor’s office, members have access to a 24-hourhelp line, a personal health coach, psychological counseling, andclasses on fitness andnutrition. All for free.

So far Harken only operates in Atlanta, where it has sixclinics, and Chicago with four.

Again, UnitedHealth is not doing this out of the kindness of itscorporate heart. This is the same company that has said it willlikely leave the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act(PPACA) individual marketplace next year if it can’tbegin turning a profit on it.

Harken Health also operates through the PPACA marketplace, but itsapproach is dramatically different than other marketplace policiesthat UnitedHealth and other major insurers offer. Most PPACApolicies are characterized by high deductibles and narrow networksthat include relatively few providers.

Harken members, in contrast, have access to a handful of primarycare clinics and for anything beyond primary care they have accessto a large network of specialists and hospitals.

The generous primary care model is based on the hypothesis issimilar to one championed by corporate wellness programs. Itassumes that by keeping policyholders healthy, they will avoidmajor medical costs in the future.

“At the end of the day, United wants to know if this system canbetter control costs, as it’s a lot cheaper to prevent disease thantreat one,” Liz Frayer, a benefits consultant in Atlanta, toldKaiser Health News.

Harken doctors are also salaried employees, meaning they have nofinancial motive to order unnecessary tests or procedures forpatients.

So how much does coverage cost? Kaiser Health News profiled aHarken member, Richard Hall, 55, of Atlanta, who pays $161 a monthfor a plan that covers his wife and him. Kaiser notes that thatpolicy is subsidized due to Hall’s low income, but does not saywhat share of the overall premium is covered by thesubsidy.