Optima Health Teams With FinFit for Seniors Financial Wellness

Health insurance provider Optima Health is partnering with financial wellness firm FinFit to help ensure that senior citizens on Medicare have the necessary resources for improved financial stability.

The partnership is using Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) analytics to strategize new ways to address seniors’ insecurities surrounding food, transportation, housing, and more. Research has shown that people’s working, living, and learning conditions have a continual influence on health outcomes that can’t be managed with healthcare alone, according to a press release on Monday (March 28).

Related: To Fix Patient Payments, Include Consumers in the Consumerization of Healthcare

Through the Optima Health Social Determinants of Health program, the company is teaming up with community organizations to bring about a more objective health environment and tackle disparities in underserved populations.

“Optima Health works to address the needs of our members around Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). Financial literacy is one of the SDOH that impact our membership. The stress that money, or lack thereof, can bring to a person or family affects their physical and mental health,” said Traci Massie, director of government programs for Optima Health.

Massie added that partnering with FinFit will provide Optima Health’s Medicare members with the tools to help them better “understand their finances, including one-on-one financial counseling.”

Read more: Upfront Price Transparency Can Speed Health — and Healthcare — Recovery

Instead of using health data sets that pinpoint quarterly or annual trends, Optima will have access to proprietary, transaction-level data provided by FinFit. The daily, weekly, and monthly snapshots of SDOH analytics can bring about the right interventions for the most vulnerable communities.

“This partnership is evidence of our joint commitment to create healthier communities and improve the quality of life for unbanked, underbanked, and unfairly-banked individuals,” said Charles Lattimer, vice president of innovation and research at FinFit.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Optima Health offers commercial health insurance products including consumer-directed, employee-owned, and employer-sponsored plans, individual health plans, employee assistance programs, and plans serving Medicare and Medicaid enrollees.

FinFit was founded in 2008 in Virginia Beach, Virginia and serves over 360,000 organizations with a SaaS-based model to provide holistic financial wellness services.