By Aine Cryts
In a bid to improve
seniors' quality of life, Aetna, a division of CVS Health Corp., is partnering
with a company called Papa to offer "grandkid-on-demand" services to
the health insurer's Medicare Advantage (MA) members.
Robert Mirsky, M.D.,
chief medical officer for Medicare at Aetna, says the insurer wants to do more
than support seniors living in their homes. "It goes beyond [aging in
place], to thriving in place," he says.
Aetna and other insurers
are tackling isolation among seniors, driven by issues from lack of mobility to
vision or hearing loss. Mirsky also points out that multiple generations no
longer live together in the same home — or even nearby — and that contributes
to seniors' loneliness, which compounds their physical and mental challenges.
The benefit will be
available to what Mirsky describes as the payer's "most vulnerable
members," those who are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, in six
counties in Florida: Broward, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach and
Seminole.
MA members will have
access to a Papa Pal — typically, a college student — who will come to the
senior's home for up to 10 hours a month to help with tasks such as driving the
member to doctor appointments and grocery shopping, or simply to provide
companionship.
"We find that
members like having different Pals. It helps them keep up with social
engagement," Papa CEO Andrew Parker says.
Papa Pals are the
"eyes and ears" of the payer, he adds. Once a Pal enters the senior's
home, they can communicate about concerns such as a ripped carpet, which could
cause an unnecessary fall. Pals also warn of potential fraud or abuse
experienced by the senior.
The company, which
recently completed a $10 million Series A round of funding, has also signed
contracts with Humana Inc., Alignment Health Plan, Priority Health and Capital
BlueCross, in addition to Aetna.
From Health Plan Weekly
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