WellCare Grants $100,000 to Help Texas Seniors with Chronic Conditions

June 22, 2012 - PRLog -- WellCare Health Plans, Inc. , a leading nation-wide provider of Medicare and Medicaid health insurance plans, presented a $100,000 grant to the Texas A&M Health Science Center, Program on Healthy Aging and launched a new public-private partnership that will focus on conducting evidence-based research and addressing chronic illness among older populations in Texas.

“WellCare has established partnerships with many leading clinicians, community advocates and authorities on aging to explore and implement innovative methods of enhancing lives and driving positive health outcomes,” said Frank Heyliger, WellCare’s state president of Texas. “We want to make a dramatic impact by increasing awareness on how to optimally self-managed diseases and live independently with chronic illness and disabilities in later life.”

WellCare and Texas A&M Health Science Center will be working in partnership with the Houston YMCA, Neighborhood Centers Inc., Catholic Charities, Gateway to Care, Harris County Area Agency on Aging, Houston-Galveston Area Agency on Aging, and Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services to conduct a series of Better Choices, Better Health™ workshops that expand current programming into the Houston-Galveston area. The Better Choices, Better Health workshops are based on Stanford University’s Chronic Disease and Diabetes Self-Management Program, and use evidence-based protocols to identify practices that promote health and enhance quality of life.

“WellCare’s initiative identifies social, behavioral and environmental factors and programs that impact health and illness,” said Pamme Taylor, WellCare’s vice president, advocacy and community based programs. “By understanding these factors, we will strengthen programs that help individuals and families adopt healthier behaviors, prevent disease, postpone the onset of disability and connect to social support resources.”

For more information about the Better Choices, Better Health workshops and to see locations where they are being offered, visit www.txbcbh.info.

About WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. provides managed care services targeted to government-sponsored health care programs, focusing on Medicaid and Medicare. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, WellCare offers a variety of health plans for families, children, and the aged, blind, and disabled, as well as prescription drug plans. The company served approximately 2.5 million members nationwide as of March 31, 2012. For more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website at www.wellcare.com.

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gregg.haddad@wellcare.com
   
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813-206-2747
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