Health insurer GED program provides pathways to success for Medicaid participants
28th January 2019 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
In May 2018, Jessica Brown of Slidell took a major, brave step in her life when she received her GED.
And the means to tackle and conquer such a challenge came from an unexpected source – her Medicaid health insurance coverage and a private HMO company.
Brown – who’s now 39 and revving up the new opportunities her GED is giving her – is a member of AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, a branch of the AmeriHealth national company that offers the Mission GED benefit.
With the program, AmeriHealth administers Louisiana Medicaid coverage that provides vouchers that members can use to pay the fee for taking the state High School Equivalency Test. Coupled with AmeriHealth’s Pathways to Work program, Mission GED has encouraged dozens of aspiring students throughout the state.
Brown said she was blown away by the fact that her privately-administered Medicaid health care benefits gave her such an opportunity.
“It was a blessing,” said Brown, who’s now studying for the entrance exams to the nursing program at Northshore Technical Community College in Lacombe. “I was ecstatic about it. Now that I have my GED, I see I can go even further.”
Bridgette Robertson, the manager of the AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana’s Mission GED and Pathways to Work programs, said the company originally provided reimbursements to members who had already taken the GED tests – which cost $90 for the first try and then $10 for each additional re-take – but found that many Medicaid members didn’t have the funds for such expenses.
“Sometimes, people cannot afford to pay upfront and then be reimbursed on the back end,” Robertson said. “That’s why we decided to give them vouchers they can use to pay for the fees.”
Tricia Grayson, director of communications and marketing for AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, said the company understands that education and work opportunities are linked to people’s health. By receiving an education and finding a quality, enjoyable job, Medicaid members can learn about and use methods to protect and preserve their health in the long run.
As members lead more healthful lives, AmeriHealth is able to reduce costs and improve its bottom line in terms of its Medicaid plans. That leads to reducing spending by state governments when funding Medicaid, which in turn makes taxpayers happy.
The result is a multi-level, symbiotic relationship founded by a holistic view to health care that benefits everyone.
“We really try to take a whole-person approach to health care,” Grayson said. “We try to look at the broader picture. We know how education can play a role that impacts a person’s health.”
Such factors like education and employment can be called social determinants of health, or factors “outside of the doctor’s office,” Grayson said. “There’s just so many other things that can play a role when you’re talking about a person’s well-being,” she said.
Such holistic approaches to serving their members are quickly being adopted by more and more health insurance companies in Louisiana and across the country. An article published earlier this month by the Kaiser Health News service and posted on the ABC Web site details those trends, noting that many companies are offering benefits through their Medicaid plans such as meals, transportation and housing assistance in addition to education vouchers.
AmeriHealth Caritas offers such programs in other states in addition to Louisiana, and the Kaiser article notes that WellCare also provides such benefits across the country. The article quotes Wendy Morriarty, WellCare’s president of a similar program in Hawaii that launched in 2016.
“There is a significant relationship between education and health,” Morriarty said in 2016. “A GED is a tool that can lead to increased opportunities for our members to attend improve the health and well-being of local families and communities.”
Robertson said that in addition to Mission GED, AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana partners with Pathways to Work to offer job training and readiness for members through their Medicaid coverage. The just-launched program provides funding for transportation, supplies, child care and other job-training benefits. Once the student has completed the GED and Pathways to Work courses, they are eligible for internships with AmeriHealth.
Robertson said she has received a great deal of interest in the job-training program from members, and the first full class of 10 students is set to begin next month in Baton Rouge in coordination with Hope Ministries. AmeriHealth plans to offer the classes every quarter, with other sessions in the works for Shreveport and New Orleans.
For Jessica Brown, AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana’s Medicaid-funded Mission GED program, not only in her life but in the lives of others as well – she said she has been telling her family and friends about the benefits, and one of her friends has already taken advantage of the AmeriHealth educational opportunities.
“It’s great news to spread,” she said.
This article originally published in the January 28, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
