Studying for Better Health: Insurer Helps Members Earn GEDs
As health insurers try to improve members’ health — and lower their costs — by tackling the social determinants of health, it has become commonplace to see efforts that connect members to stable housing, healthy food and reliable transportation to medical appointments. But some insurers that serve vulnerable populations are branching out even further, addressing social factors that may be less typically linked to health status but can nonetheless make a big difference in members’ lives.
One such effort comes from Minnesota-based UCare, which rolled out a program in mid-2019 that pays for its Medicaid enrollees to obtain their General Educational Development (GED) credential. UCare partnered with an organization called GEDWorks to provide members with the resources they need to prepare for and earn a GED, including personal coaching, bilingual study resources, and no-cost practice and official tests.
