Blue Cross joins childhood obesity effort
From The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is part of the new Alliance Healthcare Initiative, a collaborative effort with national medical associations, insurers and employers to offer health benefits to children and families for the prevention, assessment and treatment of childhood obesity.
The new initiative was formed by The Alliance for Healthier Generation, a joint venture of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Aetna and WellPoint are the other insurers involved, along with PepsiCo, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dietetic Association.
The alliance will provide children with primary care visits and visits to registered dietitians as part of their health insurance benefits. The alliance will also educate parents about childhood obesity and services available to children.
An announcement from the initiative said this is the first time a group of organizations has worked together to expand insurance coverage and monitor outcomes. Through the program, doctors will be reimbursed for bringing children back for follow-up visits and for working with them on the adoption of healthy behaviors.
During the first year of the program, an estimated 1 million children will have access to the new benefit options. The long-term goal of the initiative is to have 25 percent of all overweight children, or 6.2 million, will have access to the benefit within three years.
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Achieve your weight loss, nutrition, diet and health goals that suit your individual needs and
objectives, and that are in line with your medical requirements by consulting with Iowa Avenue's
Ask the Dietitian email, Medial Nutrition Therapy, and other services.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is part of the new Alliance Healthcare Initiative, a collaborative effort with national medical associations, insurers and employers to offer health benefits to children and families for the prevention, assessment and treatment of childhood obesity.
The new initiative was formed by The Alliance for Healthier Generation, a joint venture of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Aetna and WellPoint are the other insurers involved, along with PepsiCo, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dietetic Association.
The alliance will provide children with primary care visits and visits to registered dietitians as part of their health insurance benefits. The alliance will also educate parents about childhood obesity and services available to children.
An announcement from the initiative said this is the first time a group of organizations has worked together to expand insurance coverage and monitor outcomes. Through the program, doctors will be reimbursed for bringing children back for follow-up visits and for working with them on the adoption of healthy behaviors.
During the first year of the program, an estimated 1 million children will have access to the new benefit options. The long-term goal of the initiative is to have 25 percent of all overweight children, or 6.2 million, will have access to the benefit within three years.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Achieve your weight loss, nutrition, diet and health goals that suit your individual needs and
objectives, and that are in line with your medical requirements by consulting with Iowa Avenue's
Ask the Dietitian email, Medial Nutrition Therapy, and other services.
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Comment by Susana on February 20, 2009 at 5:16pm -
Have you seen the Kaiser Permanente commercial with the cute fat little boy? They are probably trying to do the same...
in the sentence "The alliance will also education parents about childhood obesity and services available to children" there is something wrong... probably a missing verb?
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Comment by David on February 20, 2009 at 6:01pm -
This was taken from a press release which, obviously, included a typo. I just added an "e". Overweight and obesity is overwhelming the health systems of the world, and virtually all health providers, insurance companies, doctors, non-profits, community groups, and others, are trying valiantly to try and find the right strategies to implement to try and retard and reverse this trend.
That's why Weight1Minute, AsktheDIetian, and IowaAvenue are so timely while being mission-critical-level advanced.
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Comment by Susana on February 20, 2009 at 6:25pm
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Excellent!
Especially with this weak economy. People without resources will access cheap food to feed their families. On the other hand, some people with money or working long hours, eat fast food for convenience... none of them without thinking about the consequences.
It will take a lot of effort to reverse the obesity problem. The problem is complex. It is a big business for all parts: the fast food industry and the rest... just MHO :)
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