Eat Well Program to Provide Financial
Assistance for over 1,600 Medicaid Members to Purchase Fruits and
Vegetables
DURHAM,
N.C., Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- WellCare of
North Carolina, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) announced today
a partnership with Reinvestment Partners, a North Carolina non-profit organization
dedicated to enhancing health by enrolling WellCare members in the
Eat Well Program (Eat Well).
Eat Well will provide eligible WellCare Medicaid members with a
prepaid credit card worth $80 a month
to use for the purchase of nutritious fruits and vegetables.
WellCare is planning to enroll more than 1,600 North Carolinians
with complex health needs and chronic conditions in the
program.
"Providing individuals with necessary funds to purchase the
healthy fruits and vegetables they want allows them to live
healthier lives, improves food security and gives them greater
agency over their well-being," said Sam
Hoeffler, Director of Food Programs at Eat Well. "In total,
we anticipate that participants will purchase approximately
$700,000 of fruits and vegetables
through this partnership."
Eat Well reflects the state's commitment to addressing food
insecurity and providing a healthier well-being for the people of
North Carolina. Additionally, the Eat Well Program is part of
a "Food as Medicine" approach, which provides access to a healthy,
well-balanced diet in an effort to reduce chronic diseases and
improve health equity.
"WellCare is pleased to work with Reinvestment Partners to
support the dual mission of enhancing the health of North
Carolinians," said Frances Johnson,
RN, Vice President, Population Health & Quality
Improvement for WellCare of North
Carolina. "For many years, we have known that addressing
disease prevention through diet is an effective strategy. This
partnership provides WellCare Medicaid members, who cannot afford
healthy foods, with prepaid credit cards worth $80.00 a month for 6 months, to purchase fruits
and vegetables at almost any grocery store in North Carolina."
Reinvestment Partners, the organization behind Eat Well,
received $5M in funding from the 2022
N.C. General Assembly's budget to expand the program through
partnerships and collaborations with insurance companies,
healthcare providers, and other organizations to improve access to
nutritious food.
About Eat Well
Eat Well is a program of
Durham, North Carolina-based
nonprofit Reinvestment Partners. Reinvestment Partners developed
the program to help improve the health and well-being of
food-insecure people by integrating healthy food into healthcare.
Eat Well provides monthly funds for fruits and vegetables to
eligible patients. Healthy food prescriptions are 'Food is
Medicine' interventions that can improve health, increase customer
satisfaction, and lower healthcare costs. Eat Well leverages
technology to distribute healthy food funds at scale.
About WellCare of North
Carolina
Headquartered in Raleigh, WellCare of North Carolina provides government-sponsored
managed care services to families, children, seniors, and
individuals with complex needs primarily through Medicaid as one of
the state's Medicaid Prepaid Health Plans (WellCare of North Carolina), Marketplace (WellCare of
North Carolina by Celtic Insurance
Company), Medicare Advantage (Wellcare), and Medicare Prescription
Drug Plans (Wellcare). WellCare of North
Carolina is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene
Corporation, a leading healthcare enterprise committed to helping
people live healthier lives. For more information, visit
www.WellCareNC.com.
About Reinvestment Partners
Reinvestment
Partners (RP) is a non-profit that addresses the problems of
poverty and social injustice. RP works in the areas of food,
housing, community development, health, and financial services.
Reinvestment Partners' mission is to foster healthy and just
communities by empowering people, improving places, and influencing
policy.
Any reference in this press release to any person,
organization, activity, or services related to North Carolina
Medicaid does not constitute or imply the endorsement,
recommendation, or favoring by the North Carolina Department of
Health and Human Services.
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SOURCE WellCare of North
Carolina