NC Medicaid’s Healthy Opportunities is a Resounding Success

Since 2022 HCM has had the honor of being a participant in NC Medicaid’s Healthy Opportunities Program. There has never been a more effective program at producing healthy outcomes through local investment!

What is Healthy Opportunities?

Healthy Opportunities is a program that aims to enable our neighbors to live healthier lives, not by addressing medical conditions once they arise but by creating healthy atmospheres and providing healthy diets. The program does this by addressing what are called “Social Determinants of Health.” In other words, it provides for healthier housing, healthier food, adequate transportation, and live free from interpersonal violence and stress.

How does it work?

In short, individuals on Medicaid who qualify for the program get referred to an organization like ours to provide a service such as Fruit and Veggie Prescriptions, safety accommodations or repairs in their housing, help with moving into healthy housing, help finding adequate housing, food deliveries, or more. Once we receive the referral we reach out to the individual and learn about their situation and we provide the services to them whether it’s monthly produce prescriptions, weekly food deliveries, or mold remediation in a home. Once we’ve done that, Medicaid reimburses us our expense on a pre-approved reimbursement level.

What is Healthy Opportunities Impact?

This program has had a staggeringly positive impact in the counties where it has been piloted. Within pilot counties, there has been a measurable decrease in emergency room visits and an average of $1,020 per person per year savings to medicaid. Not only are we improving the health of our neighbors through compassionate care, we are decreasing the burden on our rural hospitals and we are decreasing our shared cost at providing health care services!

Even more than that, this program has led to a significant boon to local economies. HCM and many other HOP agencies practice a “local first” mindset when providing services. Our fruit and vegetable prescriptions are filled by local vendors. We try to fill our weekly food boxes with as much local food as possible. When doing home repairs we rely heavily on local handymen and sole proprietors to get the jobs done. When buy healthy home goods for people, we purchase as locally as we are able.

From HCM alone, this has led to over $1 million dollars of investment into our local economy. Money stays local, and improves the health of our brothers and sisters. It’s a win-win! No other program like this has ever led to that kind of investment into the local economy to help our neighbors lead healthier lives.