Chinese New Year Festival and Parade
By Vinod Mohan, President, Medicare, Anthem Blue Cross
Anthem Blue Cross has been a member of the California community for more than 80 years and is committed to supporting the people in this community. Our presence in the Bay area – associates who are active in the Chinese American community and our storefront in Chinatown – helps us have a better understanding of the unique needs facing the people we serve.
With this empathy, we leverage creative thinking to develop solutions and services to help people lead healthier lives. And the need for these solutions has been especially important over the past couple of years in the face of COVID-related challenges, particularly for our community’s older adults who are often on a fixed income.
At Anthem, we know healthy living is about more than receiving healthcare services. The best health outcomes happen when we consider the factors around us, like housing, social and financial circumstances, and food. And with these social drivers in mind, Anthem takes a whole-person approach in working with people to help them improve their health and wellbeing.
We know that lowering barriers and making it easier for individuals to access everyday items, like healthy food, are some of the best ways to help people be healthier.
With our health plans, Anthem is working to give consumers more access to services and items, such as healthy food, health-related transportation, and in-home support.
We’ve heard from many of our consumers who have received home-delivered meals or monthly boxes of pantry staples. They’ve told us how this food has really helped them eat healthier and improve their overall wellbeing.
In addition, access to health-plan-sponsored transportation makes it easier for Anthem Blue Cross consumers to get to the doctor or pharmacy. They can also rely less on their caregiver, adult children, friends, or paid transportation to get them to their appointment or to pick up a prescription. We know that getting out of the house also helps people interact more with their community and be less lonely.
We understand the power of human connection. Loneliness contributes enormously to a person’s ability to maintain good health — physical, behavioral, and social. Through compassion, companionship, and care, we can understand what individuals need and help them improve their health and vitality.
One way Anthem helps our Medicare Advantage members is by access to our Member Connect program, a program that helps address factors that contribute to senior loneliness and isolation. The program has three goals for participants: help them re-engage in their healthcare, connect them with community-based organizations, and increase their physical activity.
Participants are connected with two Anthem associates – a social care partner and phone pal. Social care partners help connect the member to community-based services that address social needs and unmet health-related needs. Phone pals, who are volunteer Anthem associates, call these members on a weekly basis to check in and provide the social connection that may help the member feel less isolated and lonely.
We are proud to continue our support of the Chinese American community through programs such as the Chinese New Year Festival and Parade. We wish everyone happiness, prosperity, and good health in this Year of the Tiger.