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Community-based nonprofit health plan UCare is fulfilling its mission to improve the health of its members by being the first Minnesota health plan to offer an incentive for COVID-19 vaccines – starting September 1, 2021, through the end of the year. The incentive applies to Minnesota Health Care Program members age 12 and over enrolled in Families & Children (PMAP), MinnesotaCare, Minnesota Senior Health Options, Minnesota Senior Care Plus, and UCare Connect and UCare Connect + Medicare plans for individuals with disabilities who complete their COVID-19 vaccine series after Sept. 1.
The roll out supports Minnesotans who did not get vaccinated in time to qualify for the state’s incentive program which ended Aug. 22. In response to accessibility barriers faced by many of our members, UCare’s community outreach team also proactively calls unvaccinated members to help them find the vaccine in their community, get signed up for the Minnesota COVID- 19 Vaccine Connector or answer questions about the vaccine. The diverse team includes employees who speak UCare members’ languages. Members may also call the UCare COVID-19 vaccine hotline at 1-833-951-3189, TTY 1-800-688-2534.
“To protect our members and their communities from this highly infectious and dangerous virus, we are doing all we can to ease the path to vaccines,” says UCare’s Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Julia Joseph-Di Caprio, MD, MPH. “We understand that some lower income members may have access or transportation challenges, so we help them get connected, arrange rides and interpreter services, and reward them for their efforts.”
Since the COVID-19 vaccine became available, UCare has offered opportunities for members to get vaccinated and learn more about the vaccine including:
• Hosting COVID- 19 vaccine clinics at UCare headquarters and aboard its UCare Healthmobile in underserved communities such as North Minneapolis
• Offering a resource-rich COVID-19 vaccine website
• Running a fact-based social media campaign that connects to information webpages tailored to specific Minnesota communities: African American, Hmong, Rural/ Disability, Somali and Spanish
• Collaborating with the Minnesota Department of Human Services and Minnesota Department of Health on initiatives to close gaps in immunizations – including the COVID-19 vaccine – among teens.
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