Gold Coast Health Plan Partners with Wellth to Invest in the Health of Medi-Cal Members

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Oct 30, 2023, 07:16 ET

Proven member engagement platform will help Ventura County Medi-Cal beneficiaries minimize barriers to care while incentivizing adherence to their care plans

CAMARILLO, Calif., Oct. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gold Coast Health Plan (GCHP), California's Medi-Cal health plan for Ventura County, announced today its partnership with Wellth, the leading digital behavior change company that empowers patients to prioritize their health and manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension. Through this innovative partnership – the first for a Medi-Cal plan in California – GCHP will now offer its members access to Wellth's personalized and user-friendly experience that rewards daily progress and helps members build long-term healthy habits.

In California, 14 million people live with at least one chronic condition, with more than half of this group living with multiple diseases or medical conditions. Not only can these conditions negatively affect quality of life, but they can drastically increase health care costs. By partnering with Wellth, GCHP is investing in the health of its members, enabling and incentivizing them to overcome barriers to care, and rewarding them for taking steps toward their well-being. The goal of Wellth is to support GCHP's members in developing long-term healthy habits, helping them break down barriers to care, address high-risk health issues, and manage preventative screenings. Together, Wellth and GCHP will help members improve their health, close gaps in care through increased engagement with providers, and reduce health care costs.

"As our team continues to invest in our members' health and wellbeing, Wellth will be a critical partner in improving member outcomes, lowering costs, and deepening member satisfaction and relationship with our plan," said Nick Liguori, GCHP's Chief Executive Officer. "Our members are our highest priority, and Wellth has a proven track record of not only drastically improving the lives and health of members managing multiple conditions, but also creating strong relationships that lead to increased trust and engagement."

Through meaningful daily interactions, Wellth motivates members to take healthy actions customized to their care plan and lifestyle. Members can earn up to $400 annually by checking in on the app daily to keep their rewards by taking a photo of their glucometer readings, blood pressure readings, healthy meals, and medications. The 12-month program will enroll up to 1,000 GCHP members.

Wellth's behavioral science team, led by Dr. Sarah Watters, develops novel, personalized behavior change programs by combining proven principles like the endowment effect and loss aversion with their proprietary insights from the 13.5 million daily interactions Wellth's application has generated with members from different age groups, geographies, conditions sets, and demographics. This approach provides an encouraging and rewarding relationship with members, empowering them to develop long-term healthy habits.

"We are thrilled to partner with GCHP and demonstrate Wellth's ability to motivate their hardest-to-reach members to develop healthy habits and follow through on their care plans," said Matt Loper, CEO and Co-founder at Wellth. "With Medicaid eligibility redeterminations in 2023 greatly increasing risk pools for most plans, higher utilization and costs of care are top of mind for our Medicaid partners in California and beyond. At Wellth, we're focused on driving care plan adherence in high-risk and rising-risk populations, so we've been working closely with our partners to ensure members get the care they need and take their medication to avoid costly ED visits and reduce unnecessary inpatient utilization."

Through Wellth's model of daily engagement and incentives, members remain motivated throughout the program.

"We've been deliberate about developing human-centric approaches, which have delivered an unprecedented 91% daily user engagement with members who have historically been hesitant to engage with their plans," said Dr. Watters.

Additional improvements Medicaid and other health plans have achieved with Wellth include:

42% average reduction in inpatient utilization
29% average reduction in Emergency Department (ED) utilization
16% improvement to medication adherence

About Gold Coast Health Plan
Gold Coast Health Plan proudly serves more than 250,000 Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Ventura County through its network of primary care physicians, specialists, behavioral health providers, and hospitals. Since it was founded in 2011, Gold Coast Health Plan has been committed to providing access to high-quality care and improving the health of its members, which include 1 in 3 county residents, 1 in 6 seniors, and 1 in 2 children up to the age of 5. To learn more, visit: www.goldcoasthealthplan.org.

About Wellth
Wellth empowers people to prioritize their health, every day. Built on the science of behavioral economics, the Wellth platform generates lasting behavior change and positive health outcomes by motivating members to follow through on healthy behaviors. Each Wellth program provides an approachable and personalized experience, while rewarding daily progress and helping members build lifelong healthy habits. Wellth's powerful results are proven to close care gaps, improve quality measures and reduce costs—leading to better outcomes for our customers—AND our members. Learn more by visiting wellthapp.com.

SOURCE Wellth