Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Indiana Announces First-of-its-Kind Partnership to Provide Medicaid Consumers with Free Legal Services

2019 MAR 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Indiana (Anthem) announced the launch of a new medical-legal partnership pilot with Indiana Legal Services to improve the health and quality of life of Medicaid consumers in Central Indiana through free legal assistance. This first-of-its-kind partnership will offer legal counseling for issues with housing and utilities, income support, education and employment and family law, including guardianship, child support, child welfare and custody.

The program will be available to all Central Indiana Medicaid consumers, including those in the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), Hoosier Healthwise, Hoosier Care Connect and traditional Fee-For-Service.

“This program exemplifies Anthem’s commitment to not only providing healthcare services but also looking for innovative programs that help address other issues that impact health and quality of life,” said Dr. Kimberly Roop, Medicaid plan president at Anthem Indiana. “We know Medicaid consumers have a broad range of civil legal needs and providing access to attorney services will help remove a social barrier to their overall well-being.”

Studies have consistently shown that people living in lower income brackets have significantly more unresolved civil legal problems when compared to those living in higher income brackets. The inability to access legal services can result in the loss of housing, domestic and child care disputes or loss of employment. Our free medical-legal partnership will ensure that all Medicaid recipients throughout the state have access to legal representation which could lead to improvements in their overall health and well-being.

“We’re proud to join Anthem in this first-in-the-nation medical-legal partnership,” said Indiana Legal Services’ Executive Director Jon Laramore. “The legal issues addressed by this program will improve Hoosier families’ health and improve their quality of life and economic success.” ABOUT ANTHEM BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield works with the state of Indiana to offer the Hoosier Healthwise (HHW), Hoosier Care Connect (HCC) and Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) health insurance programs for 435,000 Medicaid beneficiaries. HHW is a health care program for children up to age 19 and pregnant women that covers medical care like doctor visits, prescription medicine, mental health care, dental care, hospitalizations, and surgeries. HCC offers individuals who are aged 65 years and older, blind, or disabled and who are also not eligible for Medicare health plans that provide the most appropriate care based upon individualized needs. HIP covers residents age 19 through 64 including low-income families. Anthem has administered benefits and services for HHW since 2007, HCC since 2015 and HIP since 2008. ABOUT INDIANA LEGAL SERVICES Indiana Legal Services, Inc., is the largest provider of free civil legal assistance to low-income people in Indiana. We help clients who are faced with legal problems that harm their ability to have such basics as food, shelter, income, medical care, or personal safety. Indiana Legal Services handles cases involving domestic violence, housing, consumer law, access to health care, LGBTQ discrimination, and access to government benefits. It does not handle criminal matters. The nonprofit firm was established in 1966 and today serves clients in all 92 counties. The mission of ILS is “to use the law to fight poverty, empower clients, and improve access to justice.” Learn more at www.indianalegalservices.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190311005763/en/

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