What it Means to be a Nonprofit Health Plan

Nonprofit health plans play a key role in ensuring that Minnesotans have what they need to be well in life overall – and addressing food insecurity is just one of these critical needs. The Giving Gardens at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota have played an important part in helping the community by providing Minnesota food shelves with fresh, locally-grown produce. Blue Cross associates volunteer their time and talents by working in the gardens to plant, care for and harvest produce. This produce is then donated to a variety of organizations throughout Minnesota, including The Open Door Pantry in Eagan, Interfaith Action’s Department of Indian Work in St. Paul and Quad Cities Food Shelf on the Iron Range. In 2020, the Blue Cross Giving Gardens produced more than 1,500 pounds of produce that was donated to local food shelves and was a record growing season for the Giving Gardens despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Pictured are Blue Cross employees in the Giving Garden.

Suicide is an unthinkable tragedy and nonprofit health plans are doing their part to aid in its prevention. HealthPartners’ Suicide Risk Calculator helps behavioral health case managers proactively reach out to members who may be at increased risk of suicide or self-harm. The calculator, developed by researchers at HealthPartners Institute and two other U.S. groups, analyzes members’ health data for indications of depression, self-harm, substance use disorder or other drug use. The algorithm then predicts and identifies members at high risk of attempting suicide. Between August 2019 and August 2020, the HealthPartners behavioral health team used the Suicide Risk Calculator to identify 500 members who they believed to be at elevated risk of attempting suicide. The team reaches out to identified members to talk about mental health issues and help them make connections to providers and other specialists for support.

Whole-person care is at the forefront of what nonprofit health plans do. Hennepin Health and Hennepin Healthcare, the provider system that includes Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), worked to expand access to housing navigation and to reduce the readmission rate for Hennepin Health members experiencing homelessness and inpatient at HCMC. The team gathers data about housing status and use of other assistance programs. Hennepin Health navigators then visit members in the hospital to confirm eligibility and introduce them to outpatient community care management. If members participate, they are added to the navigator’s case load and are often visited again while they remain hospitalized. Through the first 37 weeks, 380 members were screened, 69 were visited while inpatient and agreed to participate, and 40 were engaged in care management for at least 30 days following discharge. No engaged member was readmitted within 30 days. Also, 16% of participants were housed and connected with other services. Hennepin Health received an award from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for this initiative.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are critical to the well-being of Minnesotans. Medica’s recent decision to put a new call center and claims processing operation in St. Paul’s Midway area is just one example of this commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The new call center, where the company will hire 50 people, was strategically placed in an area of St. Paul with a diverse workforce, yet grappled with high unemployment. More than 1,000 employee hours went into the effort, and company leaders met with community groups to better understand the needs of the community, as well as the experiences of the diverse people who live in the neighborhood.  Medica is committed to hiring full-time workers for the Midway office and to prioritize jobs to workers who live in the five ZIP codes surrounding the office. It hired female- and minority-owned building contractors to help prepare the new office in St. Paul, which will occupy a 7,000 square-foot space in the Wilder Foundation building. Geoff Bartsh, Medica senior vice president, left, and Rob Geyer, Medica chief operations officer, are pictured in the Midway, where the center will be located. Both leaders led the charge on the project.

Protecting the mental health and wellness of Minnesotans is a top priority, especially given the pandemic. PreferredOne has had a longstanding commitment in facilitating access to mental health and substance abuse services as part of its focus on complete health and wellness for members. In 2020, PreferredOne extended its focus through a new partnership with Pear Therapeutics and its two digital products, reSET and reSET-O. reSET is a 12-week, FDA-authorized digital treatment that helps people abstain from substance abuse; reSET-O, for opioid-use disorder, is a 12-week, FDA-authorized digital treatment that is designed to help people stay in their program longer. PreferredOne became the first health plan in Minnesota and one of the first in the nation to include digital therapeutics for members with this family of disorders. Initial response from providers and from members has been very positive.

Health care systems like Sanford Health are more than doctors, hospitals and clinics. They are members of their patients’ communities — and neighbors take care of one another. With this in mind, Sanford Health and Sanford Health Plan have launched an integrated service in Health Guides, a bridge between patients, communities and the health care services they provide. Sanford Health Guides are passionate about health, wellness and supporting those with complex needs. The Sanford team helps patients navigate complex systems and situations more simply. Health Guides are the patients’ health care advocates and can serve in a variety of functions — attending appointments to facilitate communication, assisting with paperwork, providing wellness education, identifying and removing barriers to health care and much more. Life gets complicated. Sanford Health Guides help make it a little simpler and ensure that patients overcome obstacles on their path to better health. For more information, visit sanfordhealthplan.com.

Education is a social determinant of health that promotes success in life overall. In partnership with the GED Testing Service, UCare offers free GED tutoring, support and tests through the GEDWorks program for its Prepaid Medical Assistance Program (PMAP) and MinnesotaCare members. The program, which expanded statewide this year, is intended to help lift its members out of poverty by providing them with better career pathways and employment opportunities. In addition to expanding geographically, the organization offers additional career planning services for members. Through GEDWorks, participants have access to practice tests and other study tools in English or Spanish. They also are paired with an adviser, who provides moral support and shepherds them through the process of studying for and signing up to take GED tests. In 2020, 23 members earned their GED through the program. Pictured is Irene, a graduate of GEDWorks.