Employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) lags significantly behind employment for individuals without disabilities. This is despite the desire of many people with I/DD to participate in the workforce, and the potential of employment to have a positive impact on physical and mental health and wellbeing. This issue brief shares findings from Amerigroup Tennessee’s efforts to connect Medicaid beneficiaries with competitive integrated employment opportunities, in alignment with their goals and preferences. Early results show success in achieving employment rates 33 percent higher than recent national benchmarks, among other findings.

A new study and whitepaper from Avalere Health shows that healthy aging programs like SilverSneakers® offered through Medicare Advantage plans can boost older adults’ overall health as well as reduce their healthcare utilization and associated costs. The whitepaper summarizes the findings of the Medicare claims study released in April, which found that SilverSneakers also improves measures such as medication adherence and likelihood of following preventive care and screening recommendations.

Often, the bigger the business, the bigger the delays in decision-making. In a new two-page infographic, ProgenyHealth explores why health plans miss out on obvious options for substantial savings (often 12-16%) that could be harnessed to fund transformative initiatives around SDoH, health equity, the member experience, and more.