Commonwealth Care Alliance

Congratulations to CCA’s Adrienne Mullen, David Mello, and Nida Lam who’ve been named fellows in the 2024-2025 AHIP Executive Leadership Program! For more than three decades, this program has been the gold standard for fostering the next generation of health insurance leaders. Thank you Adrienne, Dave, and Nida for your leadership and commitment to the CCA mission!

Don’t forget to vote for CCA’s SXSW panel before the August 18th deadline! Moderated by our President and CEO Chris Palmieri, CCA has curated a panel proposal that explores the value of partnerships between private capital and healthcare organizations. While private capital’s role in healthcare has made headlines for months, there have been many misconceptions about how these partnerships can actually help scale creative solutions that improve care delivery and efficiency, making healthcare easier for consumers. This is also the philosophy behind Winter Street Ventures® (WSV), CCA’s start-up accelerator and venture investment subsidiary. WSV invests in disruptive companies that align with CCA’s mission and core values to explore creative solutions that improve outcomes for patients, members, and providers. “Health Plan as Startup Incubator: Private Capital Reimagined” will feature compelling insights from some of the leaders who are driving innovation in WSV’s investment portfolio: - Sylvia Hastanan, Founder and CEO of Greater Good Health, a healthcare organization enabling and expanding access to value-based, holistic primary care through an innovative Nurse Practitioner-led model. - Tracey Cohen, MD, FASAM, Chief Medical Officer of Marigold Health, a tech-enabled peer recovery innovator that created an anonymous social network to help individuals with mental health and substance use conditions support each other. - Brent Asplin, MD, MPH, CEO of Gather Health, an organization that provides comprehensive primary care for the complex senior population to improve the health of every community served. After you create or log into your PanelPicker account, search for CCA’s panel and use the upvote function to show your support. Click here to vote: https://bit.ly/2KnXhf6

CCA has expanded its provider agreement with Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) to improve access to care for CCA Senior Care Options and CCA One Care members in roughly 20 towns and cities across Eastern Massachusetts. The arrangement includes over 7000 practitioners across 13 hospitals, 5 community health centers, 3 urgent care centers, and BILH’s network of primary care locations. “This agreement with Beth Israel Lahey Health reinforces CCA’s mission of increasing access to healthcare services for our members,” said Mark Waggoner, General Manager of CCA Massachusetts. “This expanded relationship with BILH builds on CCA's commitment to supporting our members' medical, social and behavioral health needs through a comprehensive network of high-quality providers.” Read the press release: https://bit.ly/4clzxoM

CCA and Senior Whole Health are proud to announce a transformative collaboration with Hebrew SeniorLife and the Boston Housing Authority to improve the health and well-being of Massachusetts seniors through the expansion of place-based supports (PBS) at MLK Towers. The PBS model brings social services to seniors where they live. This partnership is supported by a $150,000 grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services. “Bringing services to individuals in affordable senior housing lowers barriers they may otherwise experience when attempting to access health education resources and personalized, culturally competent care management,” said Mark Waggoner, General Manager of CCA Massachusetts. “This grant creates the unique opportunity for CCA, Senior Whole Health, and Hebrew SeniorLife to bring their years of experience in supporting the social, medical, and emotional needs of seniors to the residents of MLK Towers.” Read the press release: https://bit.ly/3X2gED2

Community Voting for SXSW PanelPicker is now open! You can cast your votes for CCA until August 18. Moderated by our President and CEO Chris Palmieri, CCA has curated a panel proposal that explores the value of partnerships between private capital and healthcare organizations. While private capital’s role in healthcare has made headlines for months, there have been many misconceptions about how these partnerships can actually help scale creative solutions that improve care delivery and efficiency, making healthcare easier for consumers.   This is also the philosophy behind Winter Street Ventures® (WSV), CCA’s start-up accelerator and venture investment subsidiary. WSV invests in disruptive companies that align with CCA’s mission and core values to explore creative solutions that improve outcomes for patients, members, and providers. “Health Plan as Startup Incubator: Private Capital Reimagined,” will feature compelling insights from some of the leaders who are driving innovation in WSV’s investment portfolio: ·      Sylvia Hastanan, Founder and CEO of Greater Good Health, a healthcare organization enabling and expanding access to value-based, holistic primary care through an innovative Nurse Practitioner-led model.  ·      Tracey Cohen, MD, FASAM, Chief Medical Officer of Marigold Health, a tech-enabled peer recovery innovator that created an anonymous social network to help individuals with mental health and substance use conditions support each other. ·      Brent Asplin, MD, MPH, CEO of Gather Health, an organization that provides comprehensive primary care for the complex senior population to improve the health of every community served. After you create or log into your PanelPicker account, search for CCA’s panel and use the upvote function to show your support. https://lnkd.in/dzch4sB.

In honor of National Health Center Week, we want to say thank you to our Community Health Center (CHC) partners who provide vital, on-the-ground support for our members with complex care needs. Sponsored by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), this year’s theme focuses on powering communities through caring connections. As an integrated care system, we have a responsibility to meet the medical, social, and behavioral health needs of our members. One way we accomplish this is by engaging with providers who are already embedded in our members’ communities. These providers are an extension of CCA’s uncommon care model, allowing us to meet members where they are and in a way that is most comfortable and conducive to their needs. Every year, CHCs across the US provide care for 31.5 million people. Through our partnerships with CHCs, CCA is able to ensure that our members with the most significant needs feel heard, understood, and well cared for. Learn more about CCA’s partnership network: https://bit.ly/3YHmk6v #NHCW24 #CCA #NACHC #Healthcare #ValueCHCs

Through grant funding from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, CCA has been providing health education programming for seniors in Holyoke and Springfield.   Earlier this month, the CCA team hosted events at Sycamore House and Pulaski Heights to help residents complete a File of Life document. These documents provide vital medical information for emergency responders about the individual’s medical conditions, medications, emergency medical contacts, and more. 

CCA is committed to supporting and serving individuals with the most significant medical, social, and behavioral health needs. As part of our care model, CCA provides services and supports to members to decrease social isolation, which can have an impact on overall health and wellbeing. To address this, CCA and Advocates partnered to create the Friendship Project, which connects One Care and Senior Care Options members living between Worcester and Newton, Massachusetts with a community member to help decrease social isolation through weekly check-in calls, fun activities like bowling, library visits, community events, and support with day-to-day tasks. Learn more about the program: https://lnkd.in/eimv7jK6

CCA’s top priority is to provide best in class support to individuals with the most significant medical, social, and behavioral health needs. We know our members may have questions regarding last week’s announcement that Steward Health Care intends to close Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center.   CCA has been monitoring the situation with Steward Health System and is committed to doing all we can to minimize disruption to the critical services our members need.   For members who may have questions, please contact our Member Services team at 866-610-2273 (TTY 711), 8 am to 8 pm, 7 days a week. Provider partners with questions regarding the care of patients who are CCA members may call our Provider Services team at 866-420-9332, 8 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday.   For updates, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eAzes7Yt

34 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law, prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodations, commercial facilities, telecommunications, and state and local government services. At CCA, inclusivity and accessibility are central to our diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and we remain committed to ensuring our members and colleagues with disabilities have the support and necessary resources to thrive. #ADA #DisabilityPrideMonth