Childhood obesity is one of today's leading health issues. In fact, nearly one out of three children and teens in our country is overweight or obese. Seventy percent of these children become obese adults.
In response, Humana has partnered with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation – www.HealthierGeneration.org – to battle childhood obesity through the Healthier Generation benefit.
This benefit, currently available only to members of the Business Health Care Group (BHCG) in Wisconsin, is designed to help employers, payers, and healthcare providers address this epidemic by encouraging children and their families to make healthier lifestyle choices. It provides coverage to qualified children for at least four visits per year with a primary care doctor for weight management assessments, as well as at least four visits per year with a registered dietitian for nutritional counseling. Eligibility for the benefit includes children between the ages of 3 -18 with a body mass index (BMI) in the 85th or higher percentile.
How is this coverage incorporated into a company's medical plan?
- Small Business (2-99 eligible members): Humana has incorporated the Healthier Generation Benefit into their small business product refresh. This benefit is included for all new groups. Existing groups that select a product from the new product portfolio will also have coverage. For small groups, the benefit is even richer as there's only a limit for nutritional counseling visits.
- Large Group Custom Fully-Insured and Self-Funded: Humana has developed summary plan description language for the Healthier Generation Benefit, ready for the groups to incorporate.
- Large Group Fully-Insured (100+ eligible employees): At this time, Humana doesn't have a product that includes coverage for the Healthier Generation Benefit. This will be added to the next large group fully insured product refresh, expected in mid-2011.
How will members take part in Healthier Generation?
- Members should speak to their child's primary care physician to see if the child qualifies.
- If the child qualifies, the member should call Humana's Personal Nurse at 1-866-424-2479, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. TTY: 711
- From this point forward, the Personal Nurse will provide guidance and support to the member and provider through Humana's eight-visit protocol.
Over the next several weeks, brokers will receive a number of communications on Healthier Generation. For more information on this benefit, please contact your Humana Sales Executive.
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