Health Share of Oregon’s Post

Four years ago, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. It's been a rollercoaster of uncertainty and challenges. Through resilience and adaptability, health care initiatives ensured millions of Americans had vital health coverage, leading to a record-breaking open enrollment period this year. Read more in our latest blog: #healthcare #openenrollment #getinsured #SBE

When it comes to patient health, it truly takes a village, and I’m incredibly grateful to University of California, San Francisco for being a part of our healthcare community. It warms my heart to see patients receive the care they need and deserve, whether it’s in my office or through a referral. I am passionate about helping my patients achieve their best health and return to a high quality of life. ❤️ That’s why I started Empower Wellness—to provide care that should be the gold standard, not the exception. Traditional insurance-based healthcare often prioritizes the bottom line over patient well-being. At Empower Wellness, I work directly for you, the patient, and without insurance restrictions, you receive benefits that truly matter:👇 📱 Direct access to me via text, email, or phone call ⏰ Extended appointments 📅 Same and next-day appointments—say goodbye to urgent care 💵 Upfront costs—no more unexpected bills   💻 Telemedicine via phone or video chat 💙You always see me, every visit To learn more about these benefits and others, comment “DPC” below, and I’ll send you a link with more information and how you can schedule a free meet-and-greet with me.😄 When it comes to your healthcare, choose a doctor who puts your health and well-being first. Someone who will advocate for you and collaborate with a community of medical professionals to ensure you get the care you need, rather than just sending you on your way. ✨ At Empower Wellness, we believe it takes a village to support wellness, and we are deeply thankful to UCSF for stepping up and providing specialized care when some of our patients needed it. 🙏 Click below to learn more: https://bit.ly/3AeMsva #directprimarycare #ukiahca #PatientCenteredCare #UCSF

As one might expect, there is some strategic positioning by Foothold in advance of the launch of New York's Social Care Networks AND the proposed health home cuts. For those unaware, Foothold is a big player in the small to mid size provider world. Two articles to digest. One below and one in the first comment

Over the last month, I had the great opportunity to learn from several people (many on here) about their experiences with a loved one's health journey. 🙏 While each person conveyed unique experiences, one common challenge kept arising in these conversations – the struggle with transportation to medical appointments. Health complications and disability prevented their loved one from driving and they now had to rely on their support network to make it to their healthcare appointments. Motivated by these stories, we wanted to use our blog to increase awareness of an underutilized Medicare benefit that can help – non-emergency medical transportation services. Available to those with certain Medicare plans, but not highly utilized partially due to a lack of advertisement. By sharing insights from research and offering practical actions, this post aims to highlight why transportation is such a vital issue affecting seniors’ wellbeing. If you or your loved one is struggling with transportation, we hope “Getting a Lift: Unlocking Transportation Benefits in Medicare” empowers health & wellness.

🌟 **Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape of Medicare: A Vital Conversation** 🌟 As we all know, the Medicare landscape is constantly evolving, presenting both challenges and opportunities for millions of Americans. 🏥💡 One significant shift we've seen recently is the increased focus on telehealth services. This expansion is a game-changer, especially for seniors who may face mobility challenges or prefer receiving care from the comfort of their homes. 🌐🩺 However, with these changes come questions: - How can beneficiaries ensure they choose plans that effectively cover these services? - What resources are available to help them navigate their options? As someone dedicated to empowering individuals to understand their Medicare choices, I encourage everyone to stay informed! 📈 Knowledge is power, and a proactive approach to exploring available plans can make a world of difference in accessing necessary care. Let's foster a community of support and share insights on best practices for navigating this dynamic environment. 🤝💬 What strategies have you found helpful in understanding Medicare changes? Share your thoughts below! 👇 #Medicare #Healthcare #Telehealth #Seniors #HealthInsurance #MedicareAdvantage #Wellness #Support #Community

Transportation challenges prevent many seniors from getting to critical medical appointments - which makes them feel isolated and harms their health. However, certain Medicare plans offer valuable but underutilized transportation benefits that unlock access to healthcare. Non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) services provide rides that are available to many seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage and dual eligible plans. Unfortunately, few eligible seniors leverage these offerings due to lack of awareness. In one study, researchers found only 27% of seniors knew NEMT was available to them, and other researchers found just 16% of dual beneficiaries used their benefit. Yet for those accessing services, it's hugely impactful for empowering health management. Without available rides, more burden falls on the support network of family and friends. This post of ours explains differences in available transportation benefits across various Medicare plan types. It also shares little-known statistics demonstrating seniors’ desire for transportation help along with quotes from seniors about the value of NEMT services to them. Finally, an action plan is provided for how readers can navigate NEMT offerings in their or loved one’s plans. https://lnkd.in/g44Y3pxR

How many of us experienced a health care event, whether it was starting a family by bringing a new child into this world, or rupturing your achilles tendon when playing in a dad league softball game, and had zero idea what you would be required to pay out of pocket? Fortunately and unfortunately, I have experienced both events, and on top of our family being completely unaware of what we were on the hook to pay for any of the deliveries or surgery, we also received separate bills from seemingly every department in the hospital for weeks. This was all before we enrolled in Surest, where pricing transparency and simplicity are the cornerstones to a truly member-focused and transformative health plan. As you will see in The Wall Street Journal article below, unlike traditional plans, Surest eliminates deductibles and coinsurance, leaving the member only required to pay a simple to understand copay. The best part of it all - you know exactly what that copay will be before you make any health care decisions, leaving the power to choose exactly where it belongs - with you, the consumer. Daniel Kueter says it best below: the Surest model is a gamechanger that has potential to transform how people interact with, and access health care.

Healthcare should never feel like a one-way street. From in-home care to preventative wellness, non-medical benefits can be just as crucial to the care of SNP beneficiaries, and thus just as important in the inclusion of healthplans. We simultaneously support the federal government’s role in overseeing Medicare Advantage Plans while understanding this need for flexibility in benefit design. That's why we're working to find a balance between creating supplemental benefit flexibility and fulfilling federal requirements. Learn more about our advocacy: https://heyor.ca/GHYhXz #SpecialNeedsPlans #Healthcare

Over the last few months, and in collaboration with our county and federal partners, the Calfiornia Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has embarked on a journey to redetermine eligibility for Californians who are receiving health coverage through our Medi-Cal program. For context, in March of 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government paused all Medi-Cal eligibility renewals. In California that pause ended on March 31, 2023, as did the continuous coverage requirement, and Medi-Cal redeterminations resumed in June 2023. Between June 2023 and May 2024, more than 15 million Medi-Cal members will have their eligibility redetermined. Our collective priority has been to make sure Californians remain covered. Keeping eligible Medi-Cal members enrolled in coverage provides them with access to comprehensive health care benefits; reduces pressure on emergency or urgent care services because people are empowered to seek care earlier; and ultimately helps support the overall productivity and success of our state’s economy. We have learned a lot of important lessons from our counties, our Medi-Cal members, and community partners through this process. We have taken up additional federal flexibilities that help reduce the administrative burden on our Medi-Cal members and increase efficiencies in our renewals processing. This issue brief summarizes the flexibilities California has leveraged from the federal government and the technical assistance it has utilized from the United States Digital Services (USDS) to increase our auto-renewal processes, allowing for a much more streamlined process for our Medi-Cal members: https://bit.ly/3PGCBDk

I’m proud to see UnitedHealthcare's Surest health plan highlighted in the The Wall Street Journal. This article illustrates why my family – and 90% of Surest members – renew their plan year after year. I believe the Surest model is a gamechanger that has the potential to transform how people interact with and access health care. Studies show that employers are realizing multiyear savings with Surest while offering members better access and lower costs. What stands out to you as the most compelling aspect of Surest? For me, it’s that Surest empowers people to be consumers, so they can compare their options through the kind of simple digital shopping experience they’ve grown accustomed to in other industries. Check out the full story: https://lnkd.in/gkWDCzTg