Why Pa.-based Amerihealth Caritas, Medicaid insurer, is offering to pay for members’ GEDs
As she held down different jobs during the last decade 2018-- including housekeeping and working in a relative’s retail store -- she always thought about going for her GED to show she met high school academic skills.
But the
She found help at the time from an unexpected source: her Keystone First Medicaid plan.
Its parent, AmeriHealth Caritas, majority owned by
Ford is one of 62 plan members who have earned a GED certificate since the benefit began in 2013.
“I could not believe this was something a health insurance company would do,” said Ford, 25. “I thought health insurers only paid for medical costs.”
Not anymore.
Medicaid health plans are starting to pay for nontraditional services such as meals, transportation, housing, and other forms of assistance to improve members’ health and reduce medical costs.
That change follows efforts by state Medicaid programs to give health plans financial incentives to control spending, said
Rather than continue to pay a set fee each month to cover members’ health costs, many states are implementing policies that let health plans share in any savings they can demonstrate. That provides motivation for insurers to address factors such as literacy and poor housing, which can drive up health costs.
“Health plans now have incentives for them to find the root causes of problems that will reduce costs that will benefit the plan, its beneficiaries, and the states,” Rosenthal said.
AmeriHealth Caritas CEO
But Tufano acknowledged that only a small fraction of people who need the assistance reach out for it. About 1,000 members have started GED training through the insurer in
“Many of our members are just surviving to keep their heads over water, holding onto jobs and dealing with issues like safe housing, access to food, and transportation to get to work or doctor,” he said.
AmeriHealth Caritas is one of just a handful of Medicaid health plans that offer a GED benefit.
WellCare, which covers 2.2 million Medicaid recipients in
A Wellcare survey of its Medicaid adult members in
“There is a significant relationship between education and health,”
Advocates for Medicaid praise the health plans’ efforts.
“I think this sets the standard for the unique role of Medicaid managed care in bridging health care and social services,” said
Ford said having a coach at
When she finished,
The job meant Ford became the first of nine siblings to get off Medicaid and find employer-based coverage.
“I feel like I was saved from the struggle I was going through,” Ford said. “This is something big that my family was proud of.” While she was growing up, she said, her father drove a school bus and her mom took care of the kids.
In the past year, Ford has helped 12 plan members earn their GEDs, and she’s coaching 30 more.
“I can tell them I have been where you are on the other side of the phone and can share my experience, and it helps give them more trust in me,” Ford said.
“The hardest thing is not giving up even after failing a test, and being able to get back up and push yourself and get over the discouragement,” she said. “There is always something good that you can take from a bad situation.”
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