AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania Hosts Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony to Celebrate its Community Wellness and Opportunity Center in Reading

AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania, a Medical Assistance (Medicaid) managed care plan serving central, northeastern, northwestern and southwestern Pennsylvania and part of the AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies, has opened a new community wellness and opportunity center in Reading to help local residents overcome the social, economic and environmental barriers to achieving and maintaining a healthy life.

The center, located in downtown Reading at 600 Penn Street, officially w opened on August 21 during National Wellness Month.

Available to members and non-members, the center will offer a variety of services such as health education workshops, fitness and nutrition classes, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (S.N.A.P.) benefits counseling and new member orientations. Members will also be able to complete a social determinant of health (SDOH) assessment and attend Mission GED classes to earn their general equivalency diploma (GEDs).

The Medicaid health plan will celebrate the opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony featuring AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania Market President Marge Angello, state and local health care officials, and business and civic leaders from the greater Hazleton area.

Since the expiration of the Public Health Emergency (PHE) this past spring, the Medicaid health plan has been working with Philadelphia-based nonprofit Benefits Data Trust (BDT) to help members who need to recertify their eligibility for health care coverage, and assess whether they may be eligible for other important benefits, such as SNAP, Angello said.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) prohibited states from disenrolling any Medicaid recipient during the PHE to ensure continuous coverage during the pandemic. As part of the continuous coverage requirement, Medicaid recipients were not disenrolled or required to complete the annual redetermination process that is typically necessary to verify ongoing eligibility.

Angello said the Community Wellness and Opportunity Center has added Medicaid redetermination education and support as an essential member and community service.

“Although there are many who are still confused about the process, we are pleased to see so many reaching out to our center and our associates for help,” she said. “We are doing our best to ensure that there will be minimal health coverage interruptions and infrequent member inconveniences.”

Health care officials are still concerned that many members will be disenrolled for not correctly completing the reapplication process.

As of June 2023, 281,580 enrollees renewed their coverage and 137,525 enrollees were disenrolled, including 77,615 who were determined ineligible and 59,910 who were disenrolled for procedural reasons.[i]

“We have hosted redetermination forums throughout the Commonwealth for our community partners and elected officials to teach them how to best help Medicaid members in their districts complete the recertification process,” Angello said. “We recognize that the process can be intimidating to some members.”

Some residents, especially those in underserved communities, are often faced with challenges that present barriers to their well-being, such as access to quality health care, unemployment, food insecurity, gun violence and housing instability, she said.

Angello said she hopes more residents will use the center to connect with local social service organizations to obtain the resources and support to help them address the non-medical factors that can affect their health.

“The center has become a valued communityresource that has helped residents gain access to healthier foods and obtain their GEDs,” she said. “We are creating a healthier Reading.”

The center is open to the public Monday thru Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  For more information, visit www.amerihealthcaritaspa.com or call (717) 651-3485.

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