Our Mission and Vision
More than just another health insurance company
At AmeriHealth Caritas, care is the heart of our work. That means that every day we put our members and their families first. We work to improve not only their health, but also the economic and social issues that can act as a barrier to proper care — the social determinants of health that are estimated to account for 70% of avoidable mortality1 in the U.S. alone.
Through our Next Generation Model of Care, we emphasize preventive care, health maintenance, and community outreach programs with a strong focus on ensuring members have access to food, housing, utilities and other basic necessities. Here's how.
Our mission
To help people get care, stay well, and to build healthy communities. We have special concern for those who are poor.
Our vision
Our goal is to develop strategic partnerships and build accessible, flexible health systems across the nation. Moving forward as health care evolves, we will continue to ensure the greatest level of care at maximum value for members, providers, and governments.
Ensuring equal access to health care through health equity and health literacy
More than 77 million adults have basic or below basic health literacy2 — or the ability to understand the basic health services and instructions they receive. Even more can’t access the care they need because of social and cultural disparities.
Low health literacy costs the U.S. billions of dollars every year3 and impacts the quality of care millions of Americans receive. In the spirit of our mission, our whole-person model of care leverages Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards and strong community partnerships.
Through community outreach, collaboration with providers and their staff, and 24/7 access to interpretation services, we help to ensure each of our members gets the appropriate, unique care and services they need and deserve.
A national leader in multicultural health care
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has awarded seven of our health plans with the prestigious Multicultural Health Care (MHC) Distinction. The award honors health plans that monitor and improve culturally and linguistically appropriate services and reduce health care disparities. In mid-2011, our Keystone First, AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania, and First Choice by Select Health of South Carolina plans were also 3 of the first 6 health plans to earn the MHC Distinction as early adopters.
Meeting members where they live
From preventive screenings to community celebrations, AmeriHealth Caritas is all about mission and momentum.
Through outreach and grassroots advocacy, we work with local groups to address social issues that affect health care outcomes. We develop a firm understanding of the unique health care needs of each community we serve. This allows us to customize our programs to best improve the health of those who call the community home.
Take a closer look at the health outreach programs we run in the communities we serve.
- McGinnis JM, Williams-Russo P, Knickman JR. 2002. "The case for more active policy attention to health promotion". Health Affairs 21 (2) pp.78–93. PMID 11900188. See also National Academies Press free publication: The Future of Public Health in the 21st Century.
- https://health.gov/communication/literacy/issuebrief/
- https://publichealth.gwu.edu/departments/healthpolicy/CHPR/downloads/LowHealthLiteracyReport10_4_07.pdf
