Evolving into Delaware
Photo by jarmoluk for Pixabay
Highmark Health Options Partners with Evolve for HHO’s Minor Home Modification Program in Delaware
MURRAY, Utah — Utah-based Evolve Emod, LLC, has inked a new agreement with one of Delaware’s major Medicaid Managed Care Plans to manage the minor home modification benefit for Delaware residents.
The agreement, which took effect January 1, 2022, will open up new options in safety and accessibility to help Delaware residents “age in place” rather than move into a nursing home or assisted-living facility.
It also shows that the word is out about how effective Evolve’s innovative service platform is in bringing together benefits administrators, qualified contractors, and people who need help, said Spike Cheever, director of business development for Evolve.
“The humbling and exciting thing about this new agreement is that Highmark approached us,” said Cheever. “They called us and invited us to submit a proposal. We put that together and submitted it a couple of weeks later, and we were selected. Our members in other states have been very happy with what we can do for them, and we think the people of Delaware will feel the same way.”
In a blog post announcing the deal with Evolve, Highmark leadershop agreed: “This partnership will create a seamless continuation of service to Highmark Health Options LTSS members by providing safe and accessible minor home modifications solutions.”
The reason health plans across the country are coming to rely on Evolve to provide home modification services to their members is becoming ever more obvious.
In each state in which it operates, Evolve builds a network of pre-vetted, pre-qualified contractors who are not only adept at quickly providing the environmental adaptations clients need—everything from grab bars and easy-open door handles to roll-in baths and showers, widened doorways, and chair lifts—but who know how to work with government benefits programs.
Evolve’s staff members also work directly with beneficiaries, helping them understand not only the full scope of the benefits to which they’re entitled, but also exactly what changes to their homes would best help them continue to live independently for as long as possible.
Evolve’s goal in every state is the same: to improve clients’ living conditions in ways that help them “age in place” in their own homes—the strong preference of almost 90 percent of adults over age 50, across all age, race, income, and health categories, in a survey by WebMD this past year.
Very few companies nationwide are doing exactly what Evolve is doing, Cheever said, and certainly not with the same level of expertise. In addition to Medicaid waivers, Evolve’s nationwide provider network has helped members of Medicaid managed care plans, participants in independent living organizations, grant recipients, and beneficiaries of private- or state-funded programs.
Evolve can help with home modifications like widened doorways, wheelchair ramps, grab bars, walk-in and roll-in showers, and other improvements that facilitate the activities of daily living. The company also can help with procuring moving assistance and vehicle modifications both simple, like pedal extenders and spinner knobs on steering wheels, and complex, like hand controls or chair lifts.
In addition, Evolve can find the right contractors to install assistive technology like automatic lighting and switches, timers, security devices, monitoring systems, cameras, automatic door locks, and assistive devices like the Amazon Echo or Alexa that can, for example, remind a person when it is time to take their medication.
“In a lot of ways, what we’re doing is riding the wave of the future,” Cheever said. “People want to continue to live in their homes as they age, and with the improvements we can offer and the technologies that are continually being developed, they’re so often able to do just that.”
Evolve has active provider networks in Virginia, Florida, Illinois, New York, and California and the company expects to announce deals in several other states in 2022.
CONTACT: Spike Cheever, 844-438-7577, ex. 102 or spike@evolve-emod.com
