Unemployment is bad for your health. Americans without a job are more likely to have stress-related conditions or mental health issues.
But many plans question how big a role they should play in addressing joblessness and other social determinants of health for their members.
CareSource, a managed care organization and plan serving Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Health Insurance Exchange members in the Midwest, thinks it should play a major role—and has the results to prove it. We recently interviewed CareSource on the best practices their Life Services program has uncovered that secure jobs and curb avoidable care.
Life coaches start by focusing on members’ economic and social stability
Launched in 2015, Life Services supports members through a dedicated Life Coach, whose only task is to help members to become financially, emotionally, and socially secure.
Their work starts with stabilizing the member. Once a member opts into the program, their Life Coach conducts a short assessment to help members identify their own strengths, and where they may most need support—ranging from emotional issues to childcare.
The Life Coach then jointly crafts a plan with the member to address their personal obstacles to self-sufficiency. Through CareSource’s relationships with a comprehensive range of social services organizations, Life Coaches can coordinate access to the right resources for each member.
Long-term employment assistance the cornerstone of Life Services
After immediate issues are addressed, Life Coaches can shift their focus to employment.
The coach evaluates a member’s skills and education gaps to recommend an education path that will improve the member’s employment prospects. They can even connect members directly with employment opportunities—CareSource formally vets and partners with a number of companies which meet their criteria.
Crucially, they don’t cut the support after the member is hired—Life Coaches may continue to meet with members for up to 24 months following employment, to assist with employment retention and career advancement.
A new plan identity—Convener for whole-person health
By December 2016, CareSource had 1,343 members opt into its Life Services program. Of those members, 317 gained employment and the job retention rate at 90 days was 86%. Intriguingly, members who went through Life Services also increased their use of preventive care visits while decreasing ED use.
This success has given CareSource confidence on its path toward becoming a true convener of whole-person health—“a plan that makes no distinction between health and childcare, health and job stability, or health and food security.” The next step on this path is to be directly compensated for that work. In fact, the plan is currently in talks with states to secure such dedicated funding.
The early results provide an excellent case for plan-directed socioeconomic interventions. But beyond simple financial benefits, CareSource leadership is on a mission to affect generational poverty and poor health.
“I hope we can say that because of the work we do with adults today, maybe we prevented the next generation from having to rely on government subsidies. As adults get healthier and more connected, as they increase their education and employment, the children also become better off.” – Karin VanZant, Executive Director, Life Services
Isaiah West is Senior Analyst and Natalie Trebes is Consultant, Research at Advisory Board.
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