Pilot Program Now Fully Launched and Available
to Members in all 100 N.C. Counties
RALEIGH, N.C.,
July 31,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- WellCare of North Carolina (WellCare), a Medicaid
health plan and a Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC)
company, and Expressable, the market leader in research-based,
family-centered speech therapy care, announced today they are
expanding their partnership to offer advanced speech therapy
interventions to underserved populations in North Carolina.
Over the last year, Expressable and WellCare engaged in a
family-based care management pilot across several counties in
eastern North Carolina. This
program provided children with home-based screenings and speech
therapy, along with education and support for their families. With
the pilot program's success, Expressable's services are now
expanded to WellCare members throughout all 100 counties in
North Carolina.
"Our partnership with Expressable enables us to
proactively identify children and young adults, from birth to age
19, who can benefit from essential speech pathology services. By
leveraging advanced screening tools, our care managers can
accurately pinpoint those requiring comprehensive specialty
assessments, ensuring that no critical developmental milestones are
overlooked," said Heather Wilman,
senior director of care management for WellCare. "This partnership
addresses a wide range of needs including speech, language, and
safe feeding skills. Importantly, our members have the option to
receive personalized care in the comfort of their homes,
significantly reducing travel burdens for families across
North Carolina."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), one in twelve children in the
United States has a communication disorder, but nearly half
of them aren't receiving the treatment and support they need, such
as speech therapy.
Children with speech and language impairment suffer an increased
risk of learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, poor academic
achievement, and impacts on socio-emotional health. Early
interventions, like the Expressable screening tool and telehealth
program, can ease burdens on the foster care and public school
systems.
"Speech therapy has transformational impacts on a child's life,
yet nearly 6 million children in the
United States are underserved and at risk for delayed
outcomes and cost-intensive care," said Leanne Sherred, M.S., CCC-SLP, Expressable's
president and chief clinical officer. "As the only Medicaid managed
care provider in the state offering early screening and at-home
intervention, WellCare is putting North
Carolina children on a strong path to healthy childhood
development."
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 Centene Corporation
Centene Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading
healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping
people live healthier lives. The Company
takes a local approach – with local brands
and local teams – to provide fully integrated, high-quality and
cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial
healthcare programs, focusing on under-
insured and uninsured individuals. Centene offers
affordable and high-quality products to nearly
1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid and
Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans) as
well as individuals and families served by the Health Insurance
Marketplace and the TRICARE program. The Company also contracts
with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide a
variety of specialty services focused on treating the whole person.
Centene focuses on long-term growth and value creation as well as
the development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it
can better serve its members, providers, local communities and
government partners. Centene uses its investor relations
website to publish important information about the Company,
including information that may be deemed material
to investors. Financial
and other information about Centene is routinely posted
and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website,
http://investors.centene.com.
About Expressable
Expressable is a virtual speech therapy provider committed to
expanding access to quality services for everyone in need.
Expressable pioneered a family-centered and research-based care
model that uses technology and education to integrate speech
therapy techniques into children's daily lives, improving outcomes
and experiences. For more information, please
visit www.expressable.com.
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