How An Expanded Vision of Managed Care Organizations Could Tackle Inequities

Are you a Pennsylvanian without a high school diploma? Then sign up with AmeriHealth Caritas for Medicaid and the plan will help you get your GED. Having trouble getting a job in Ohio? If you are enrolled in CareSource, the Life Services JobConnect in CareSource’s managed care organization (MCO) will arrange job coaching and other employment services at no cost. These are not examples of corporate philanthropy. Rather, they reflect a growing recognition in the health care sector, especially among managed care organizations, that good health—and achieving lower medical costs—requires a focus on the nonmedical factors known as social determinants that affect health and well-being.