Community Health Options is pleased to announce that our fall 2021 Community Giving grant cycle is now open for applications. The CBE supports Maine nonprofit, community organizations working to promote wellness and community health. Our fall grant priorities are focused on helping people who are living with or at risk of substance use disorders, supporting people with substance use recovery and continuity of care, and reducing negative substance-related health impacts in the state.
Community Health Options (Health Options) has awarded grants to eight Maine nonprofit agencies working in community health. This grant cycle focused on organizations assisting Maine people managing chronic illness to be their best selves – mentally, physically, and emotionally. The eight grant recipients include Bangor Region YMCA, Town of Cranberry Isles Fire & Rescue Auxiliary, Healthy Acadia, Mid-Coast Health Net (dba Knox County Health Clinic), National Alliance of Mental Health (NAMI) Maine, Defend Our Health, Healthy Community Coalition, and New Mainers Public Health Initiative.
Through its Community Benefits Program (CBP), Health Options is making grant funds available to Maine-based nonprofits now through March 8. Our Spring 2021 grant cycle targets nonprofit programs and organizations working to promote wellness and community health. Preference will be given to nonprofits helping to treat and manage asthma, coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression, diabetes, hypertension, and substance use disorder and to helping Maine people living with these conditions to be their best selves -- mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Lewiston-based Community Health Options is ready to respond to President Biden's executive order to reopen the Affordable Care Act's federal insurance marketplaces from February 15, 2021 through May 15, 2021.
Health Options’ CEO and President Kevin Lewis provided a review of newly elected board members, 2020 achievements and financial results, and welcomed Dr. Shah, who shared his perspective on leading Maine’s statewide response to the COVID-19 pandemic, from early public health actions to small town outbreaks and the current resurgence.
Maine-based Community Health Options, (“Health Options”), a nonprofit Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) health insurance provider, was founded on a simple premise: prioritize people over profits. Founders Kevin Lewis, president and CEO, and Robert Hillman, senior vice president and COO, first started developing this idea in 2011. Almost ten years later, Health Options is one of Maine’s largest health insurance carriers for the individual market and a provider of benefits to more than 1,300 businesses. The organization is celebrating its progress by updating its brand look.
In a second round of COVID-19-related grant allocations, Lewiston-based Community Health Options (Health Options), the state’s only nonprofit, Member-led health insurance plan, has awarded grants to three Maine nonprofit agencies dedicated to Maine’s youth.
Lewiston-based Community Health Options (Health Options), the state’s only nonprofit, Member-led health insurance plan, has awarded grants to nonprofit agencies supporting Maine communities and organizations experiencing some of the most troubling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In late April, when COVID-19-related business closings created the worst unemployment rates since the Great Depression, a small team of call center workers in Fort Kent, Maine were starting new permanent jobs with Lewiston-based Community Health Options (Health Options), the state’s only nonprofit, Member-led health insurance plan.
In an 8-1 decision handed down today by the US Supreme Court in Maine Community Health Options v. United States, the Court held that Congress did not void the Government’s statutory obligation to reimburse health insurance companies for losses under the Affordable Care Act’s Risk Corridors program.
Community Health Options is waiving member cost sharing for COVID-19-related admissions. This expanded benefit is designed to eliminate financial barriers for members seeking COVID-19 treatment at in-network hospitals. The new policy will be in effect until June 30, 2020 and is subject to change if the public health emergency continues. If members received COVID-19 treatment prior to this announcement, their claims will be covered and reprocessed.
Maine-based insurer Community Health Options is currently working closely with the Maine CDC and local healthcare agencies to monitor the progress of COVID-19 and are exploring ways to support all of its Members who may contract the illness, particularly those at high risk. To remove financial barriers that could prevent its Members from obtaining provider-recommended testing for COVID-19, the insurer has waived cost-sharing for that screening test, associated lab processing fees and the office visit to collect the specimen.
In recent role changes within Health Options' leadership, Maggie Kelley has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Community Health Options and Dr. Jacquelyn Hedlund has accepted the part-time position of Senior Medical Director.
“The central question to be decided is whether the government’s failure or refusal to allocate money to pay a debt cancels that debt,” says Kevin Lewis, CEO & President of Community Health Options. The resolution of this issue has implications far beyond the immediate case. The bigger question is whether the government is obligated to honor its commitments to a private company that has performed its part of the bargain.
Community Health Options has expanded its pharmacy benefit for Members to fill prescriptions for overdose-reversing medications naloxone and Narcan with no co-pay or out-of-pocket expense.
Community Health Options & Northeast Delta Dental Announce New Initiative That Recognizes the Key Link Between Oral Health and Overall Health in Maine.
Community Health Options receives national recognition as one of 23 honors recipients for 2018.
Kevin Lewis, CEO of Community Health Options, recently announced that Kirk Miklavic has joined the organization as HR Director.
Open Enrollment for individual and family health plans began on November 1st and will close on December 15th. Health Options’ analysis of call volumes and Internet traffic for comparable enrollment periods show activity has exceeded the prior year and is increasing.
Community Health Options, a leading non-profit, Member-led health plan providing comprehensive, Member focused health insurance benefits for individuals, families and businesses in Maine, announced today that it has been named one of the 2017 Best Places to Work in Maine.
Community Health Options and LifeFlight of Maine announced today their collaborative partnership to provide people with quality patient care and service.
Community Health Options, in partnership with a local hospital, tested an innovative program designed to reduce emergency department utilization and promote better health outcomes for its Members through education and care management interventions.