Our public policy is shaped from personal experience.
 

The national discussion on health care reform has raised awareness that we’re facing some serious problems: Costs are soaring. More Americans need help from publicly funded programs. State budgets are at the breaking point. Everyone is looking for answers and some people think there aren’t any, but that’s where Amerigroup’s experience comes in. Our approach to health care policy is based on solutions that work, not pie in the sky.

Raising the bar on access to health care, developing effective programs that lead to better health and quality of life, keeping a lid on costs—this is what we do every day. And instead of going from one crisis to the next, we’re pursuing policies that ultimately could make a significant and measurable difference for our members, our customers, and our country.  

Enabling independence. We believe in shifting more resources toward the kind of services that empower people to live in their own homes or other community-based settings rather than nursing homes or institutions. 

Promoting primary care. We encourage strong consistent relationships with primary care providers, including early prenatal care for moms, because better preventive care can improve health and reduce the need for costlier emergency interventions and hospitalizations. 

Connecting the dots. Physical, behavioral, and social well-being are all parts of the whole person and treating them as separate pieces makes little sense. We believe that integrating and coordinating all aspects of a patient’s care—and connecting the diagnoses, treatments, and medications on a single medical record—is not only more efficient but more beneficial for health and safety as well.

These are a few of the policies we’re applying as we help states plan for how to cover the continuum of care—for those in need now and down the road.