At Issue
Healthier lifestyle choices lower health care costs
MESSA offers programs that give members support and motivation to meet personal health goals.
Member education and wellness programs play a major role in MESSA’s ongoing efforts to reduce overall health care costs.
Health education programs can help members make healthier lifestyle choices that can dramatically lower health care costs in the long term.
The benefits are enormous. Healthy employees are more productive on the job and experience less absenteeism.
MESSA’s Men’s and Women’s Health Initiatives and Asthma, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Health programs, detailed in stories that follow, provide educational information, nurse support and motivation to meet personal health goals, and tips for members to use to improve their relationships with their personal physicians.
'Initiative addresses men's, women's health needs
Men and women face many of the same health obstacles—heart disease is the No. 1 killer for both genders, and cancer, strokes, diabetes and accidents rank among the top threats for each.
But men and women are different, too. They don’t always manage their health the same way, for example, says Leah Hinman, who manages member education programs for MESSA.
“We know that men don’t always take care of themselves,” Hinman says. “They don’t tend to schedule their own appointments or follow-up with needed care.”
The Men’s Health Initiative was launched to provide men of all ages with health education services to promote positive lifestyle choices and to improve their overall health so they can enjoy a better quality of life.
Information packets are available to all MESSA members with health insurance. The packets include information about physician-patient partnerships, common diseases, prostate and testicular cancer, blood pressure and managing cholesterol.
Similarly, MESSA created the Women’s Health Initiative to provide members with information geared toward a woman’s needs, including osteoporosis, dietary supplements and several diseases.
For more information about either initiative, or to request a copy of the educational materials available, call MESSA’s Member Education office toll-free
Dryden teacher thankful for MESSA's call
The telephone call from MESSA surprised Tracy Maday.
“Imagine, someone from my health insurance company was calling me to inquire how my son was doing,” said Maday, a teacher at Dryden Elementary School and MESSA member.
Her 4-year-old son, Daniel, had been hospitalized for two days with an asthmatic condition earlier this year.
The call came from Ellie Higginson, R.N./B.S.N, nurse coordinator of MESSA’s Asthma Management Program. She routinely checks Blue Cross Blue Shield reports on MESSA members who have been hospitalized or made emergency room visits for asthma, and then she contacts them to offer asthma information.
Higginson advised Maday that MESSA covered a portable nebulizer used to deliver medicine that will help relieve her son’s asthma. Daniel needed a nebulizer that was highly portable and delivered medication efficiently.
“The portable nebulizer has been so helpful and convenient for us,” Maday said. “We can take it anywhere with us to handle Daniel’s asthma.”
The Asthma Management Program is part of MESSA’s Member Health Education programs that offer practical and proven approaches to effectively manage chronic conditions. The programs have made a positive impact on the wellness of members and have helped reduce health care costs over the long term.
“MESSA’s attitude is to be proactive and focus on healthier lifestyle choices and management,” Higginson said. “We try to get members the information they need to better manage their condition. Hopefully, this will result in fewer lost days at work or school, and fewer hospital visits.”
Maday, for one, is grateful for Higginson’s telephone call. “She even called a couple times afterward just to see how Daniel was doing,” Maday said. “I hope members realize what great service we get from MESSA and how much MESSA cares.”
For more information on the Asthma Management Program, Higginson can be reached toll-free at 800/336-0022, prompt 3, or at membereducation@messa.org.
Help just a phone call away for MESSA members
Judy Heinonen, a classroom aide in Hancock Public Schools, believes a simple phone call she made to MESSA helped save her life.
“I’ve been a Type 1 diabetic since childhood and have trouble managing it,” she said. “I just hadn’t been feeling well for some time, but I kept putting off seeing a doctor.”
That’s when she noticed a mention of MESSA’s Diabetes Education Program in the MESSA newsletter, Embody Health, advising members they could contact nurse Pat Huhn for help.
“That I noticed the article and called Pat was a beacon for me,” Heinonen said.
Conversations with Huhn led Heinonen to seek medical help. When she did, doctors discovered she had a blocked artery.
“Doctors put in a stent to open up the artery,” Heinonen said. “Seeing that article in the MESSA newsletter and calling Pat saved my life.”
Heinonen remains in contact with Huhn at MESSA. “Pat is so encouraging, so positive and helpful,” Heinonen said. “I am grateful for that.”
As Heinonen learned, one-on-one help with diabetes control is just a phone call away for MESSA members with health insurance.
In fact, Huhn, an R.N. and certified diabetes educator who has headed the Diabetes Education Program for seven years, spends most of her time on the telephone every week, counseling MESSA members about their diabetes.
“This is not an easy disease to manage,” Huhn said. “You have to take your medicine, be careful to eat properly and exercise to control it well.”
Huhn’s efforts focus on assessment and teaching. In ongoing conversations, she gathers information from each caller on how they handle the disease.
“I try to do some teaching and help members set reasonable goals to master as they cope with diabetes—and I listen. Diabetes can cause a lot of frustration, and it’s very important to listen.”
Huhn sends each caller a packet containing valuable resources that will help in handling diabetes—from a 348-page Understand Diabetes handbook and a 74-page diabetic cookbook to information booklets on Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
“We keep up-to-date with the latest information on diabetes and controlling this disease,” Huhn said, “and we want MESSA members to have this information.”
Remember, Huhn is just a toll-free phone call away at 800/336-0022, prompt 3. She also can be reached by e-mail at membereducation@messa.org.
Cardio program helps members manage problems
In the time it takes you to read the rest of this article, two Americans will die from cardiovascular disease.
It’s a sobering statistic, especially considering that many aspects of cardiovascular disease are preventable.
MESSA’s Cardiovascular Health Education Program can help members with health insurance more effectively manage problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease. The free program provides access to a cardiovascular nurse educator who offers information, motivation and support to help members and their dependents reach their cardiovascular goals.
Nearly 80 million Americans have some type of cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association. Cardiovascular diseases killed 871,500 people in 2004, representing more than 36 percent of all deaths that year, the most recent for which data is available. About 325,000 of the 2004 deaths were from sudden cardiac arrest in an emergency department or before the victim could get to a hospital.
Since the Cardiovascular Health Education Program began about three years ago, about 1,000 members have been helped, said Leah Hinman, manager of member education programs for MESSA.
“When you look at cardiac disease, the costs are high, both in terms of medical costs to treat the disease and the burden on the family,” she said. “MESSA created this program to help members better manage their health. Cardiovascular disease is highly preventable.”
If you’re interested in learning more about the Cardiovascular Health Education program, call MESSA toll free 800/336-0022 and select prompt 3, or e-mail membereducation@messa.org.