Health New England

Health New England, Inc makes high quality, low cost Health care services available through Health plans within a service area that comprises more poor, medically underserved and rural communities than any other part of Massachusetts. A federal Health resources & services administration report stated that of the 102 Massachusetts towns designated as medically underserved, 78 are in the four counties that Health New England serves. Based on that statistic, in all over 45% of Health New England's enrollees live in medically underserved areas.health New England's service area includes four of the five counties with the highest percentage of poverty and the lowest per capita income in Massachusetts, based on us census bureau data. Many residents in western Massachusetts thus struggle with poverty and low levels of income. Across the four counties of western Massachusetts, 16% of residents live in poverty, and the median family income in three of the four counties is more than 20% lower than that of the state. Child poverty rates are high with 23% of children in the region living in poverty. Hampden county has the highest rates of poverty and unemployment in Health New England's service area and the lowest median income. Also, lower levels of education contribute to unemployment and the ability to earn a livable wage. Approximately 12% of residents age 25 and older in western Massachusetts do not have a high school diploma, with the highest rates observed in hampden county (16%). In the communities of springfield, holyoke, chicopee, ludlow, west springfield and pittsfield, over 20% of eligible individuals do not have a high school diploma, which is nearly double the statewide rate.health New England makes Health care available in this service area and to this population by offering Health plans which serve the following:individuals and small groups:enrollees at 12/31/22: 35,053revenue: $225,124,622program expenses: $236,399,074health New England offers Health plans to individuals and families (both directly and through the Massachusetts Health connector) and small employer groups (employers with 50 or fewer employees).medicare:enrollees at 12/31/22: 10,384revenue: $115,190,510program expenses: $113,036,904health New England serves medicare enrollees through Health New England medicare advantage plans.medicaid: enrollees: 50,274revenue: $354,396,790program expenses: $352,045,867health New England participates in masshealth, the Massachusetts medicaid program, through a medicaid managed care plan. The number of Health New England's medicaid plan enrollees has generally increased since 2010 when Health New England began offering such plans, with an increase of 10% from calendar 2021 to 2022.other individuals and families:enrollees at 12/31/22: 33,849revenue: $230,846,997program expenses: $232,232,385health New England also provides coverage to individuals and families through plans offered by employers which have more than 50 employees. This category includes many municipal employees who do not obtain coverage through the gic, and also includes many employees of Health care and nonprofit organizations.in 2022, Health New England continued committing to improve the Health status in communities we serve by addressing racial, ethnic, economic and gender Health disparities and improving Health equity for all. Health New England's community benefits program is intended to help people attain their full Health potential and reduce barriers that cause disadvantages due to social detrminants of Health factors that adversely affect the Health of the community. Our community benefits strategy is a planned, managed and measured organizational approach to meeting identified community Health needs based off the 2019 community healthy needs assessment (chna), and aligns with Health New England's population Health management, diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging (deib), and Health equity committee strategies.in 2022, Health New England committed $540,000 in investments back to the community. In 2021, major components include: - where Health matters grants, accounting for 46% of all funding; - baystate Health foundation accounting for 19% of all funds: - diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging (deib) mini grants, accounting for 19% of all funding; - public Health institute of western Massachusetts, accounting for 11% of all funds: and - long term community grant commitments, accounting for 6% of all funds.the grant programs makes it possible to strategically align investments across identified Health priorities to have a more equal distribution of funding support in the communities Health New England serves. The community benefits program funded nonprofit community organizations in the following areas: - maternal & infant Health (37%) - food insecurity (19%) - Health equity (12%) - housing (11%), social environment (9%), care coordination (9%) and chna (3%).all five counties in Health New England's service area received community benefit funding support:hampden county 83%, hampshire county 10%, franklin county 3%, berkshire county 3% and worcester county 1%.accordingly, Health New England has aided or worked with a wide variety of community organizations to support programs for Health improvement, support factors that influence overall Health and benefit the overall community. Community benefits include, but are not limited to, the following organizations:in 2022, Health New England built on the existing multiyear commitments to organizations through the where Health matters grant program in $250,000 grant funds. The grant program complements and mirrors Health New England's community benefits mission by: - encouraging programs to address Health priorities as well as social determinants of Health to improve Health equity across our vulnerable populations. - bringing value to community organizations by providing grant recipients with education and technical assistance in the planning and implementation of their grant programs. - incorporating a population Health perspective, drive Health improvements using evidence-based methodologies. - facilitating collaboration with community partners to leverage existing relationships to develop New programs, extend the capacity of an organization, and integrate programs to ultimately expand services and have a greater impact on targeted populations and communities. - providing program sustainability to strengthen program impact and move the needle in community Health outcomes.clinical & support options (cso) received $150,000 in funding over 3 years to support their "friends of the homeless - care coordination support". The goal is to develop and implement medical prevention and response strategies and coordinate medical care and create greater access to behavioral Health care for those who are homeless while improving individual capacity for self-efficacy. Short-term outcomes are in progress, as the grant runs from october 2020 - september 2023. - girls on the run western ma (gotr) received $100,000 in funding over two years to support their "expansion of girls on the run program". Gotr will double their programming with the goal of improving physical and social emotional Health outcomes among 3-8 grade girls in chicopee, holyoke and springfield schools. Short-term outcomes are in progress, as the grant runs from october 2021-september 2023. - the care center received $150,000 in funding over 3 years to support the "roque house and cultural center". Over the next 3, the care center will provide a stable, inspiring, and safe home for young families by supporting a live-in artist and counselor to supporting a vibrant learning community of young mothers in the process of attaining their college degree. Short-term outcomes are in progress, as the grant runs from october 2021 - september 2024. - the food bank of western ma received $150,000 in funding over 3 years to support their "food insecurity screening and referral initiative" to identify and serve food insecure individuals, increase access to services to address insecurity. Short-term outcomes are in progress, as the grant runs from october 2020 - september 2023. - wellspring received $150,000 in funding over 3 years to support the "go fresh mobile market program". Go fresh market will 1) double the number of people it provides access to fresh, healthy, local foods: 2) enact a pilot program to expand the go fresh farmers market throughout the winter providing year round access to Health foods: 3) partner with local Health clinics to establish a food referral program that meets the needs of patients with chronic conditions through education and access to healthy foods: and 4) continue to support minority and immigrant farmers via the wellspring harvest greenhouse program in the indian orchard neighborhoods.