MCMURRAY, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), a leading publisher of health plan market data and analytics, recently attended the AHIP Institute and Expo 2019 at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN. The major focus of this year’s gathering of health insurance companies and industry stakeholders was on social determinants of health (SDOH), i.e., factors such as income, internet access, stable housing, healthy food, and transportation that affect patients’ health. Speakers talked about the need for payers to focus on “whole person care” and shared their experiences with programs designed to identify and address social and economic barriers to better serve vulnerable populations.
Social determinants of health have long been linked to patient health but not necessarily intertwined with health insurance benefits. Several conference presentations demonstrated how these solutions are now being designed at the health insurer level. To highlight a few examples, co-presenters from L.A. Care Plan and UPMC Health Plan discussed special housing programs for homeless health plan members which have proven to lower per member per month (PMPM) healthcare costs. Speakers from Mom’s Meals talked about how meal delivery programs have lowered utilization and costs for dually eligible Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
In the short term, payers will remain focused on incorporating SDOH factors with health benefits as vendors deliver innovative products and solutions to support these initiatives. In support, MFA will remain committed to providing the most comprehensive payer performance and market share data available. Additionally, MFA will further assess economic and demographic data enhancements to better serve our clients as the industry transforms.
To learn more about Mark Farrah Associates’ health insurance analytic tools including the Health Coverage Portal TM, contact MFA at 724-338-4100 or visit www.markfarrah.com. For the latest insights about health plan enrollment trends and financial performance, visit the FREE MFA Healthcare Business Strategy Briefs on the MFA website. You can also follow us on LinkedIn.
About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)
MFA is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Committed to simplifying analysis of health insurance business, our products include Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, and Health Plans USA™. Mark Farrah Associates maintains financial data as well as enrollment and market share for the health insurance industry in its subscription-based Health Coverage Portal™. MFA monitors enrollment changes and competitive shifts across all healthcare segments.
