WellPoint Launches Nationwide Initiative to Encourage Family Conversations on Health, Life and Aging Plans
New Roper Survey Reveals Notable Disconnect Between Seniors and Adult Children on Critical Issues; Program to ‘Connect the Generations’ and Encourage Action Now
INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), the nation’s largest health benefits company, today launched Connecting the Generations, a long-term nationwide educational initiative to help older adults and their families discuss and plan for important health and aging issues such as health care, financial security, independent living and end-of-life planning. The new initiative was designed to address the notable disconnect found between older adults and their families on critical aging issues as revealed in a new national survey conducted by Roper Public Affairs and Media Group and commissioned by WellPoint. The program encourages proactive planning on broader life issues in conjunction with the upcoming Medicare open enrollment period, when families are already engaged in assessing their health care needs and options.
The Roper/WellPoint Survey on Life, Health and Aging, which polled more than 1,000 seniors and adult children nationwide, confirmed the following key findings:
Generations Perceive Aging Differently - Adult children believe their senior parents worry more about aging issues than they actually do (53 percent vs. 33 percent).
Generations Aren’t Talking About Important Aging Issues, Especially Health - While 60 percent of adult children say they talk regularly to their parents about health matters, only 32 percent of seniors report discussing health topics regularly with their kids. Equally notable are the health and aging issues neither group talk about regularly - such as nursing homes and long-term care, wills or life insurance, funeral planning or the ability to drive.
Seniors Say They Are Comfortable Talking About Aging Issues, But Seldom Do So - While 76 percent of seniors said they are very comfortable talking about their driving ability and/or wills and life insurance with their kids, only 17 percent and 18 percent respectively report doing so. While many seniors are comfortable receiving help with their health care needs or insurance coverage, only 16 percent have discussed this regularly with their children.
Generations Are Most Disconnected on Medicare - 76 percent of adult children agree that it’s important to understand health insurance coverage and Medicare issues so they can help their parents, but more than half of adult children (52 percent) don’t understand Medicare.
Both Generations Want to Talk About Health, But Are Waiting for the Other to Bring It Up First - While nearly four in ten seniors and their adult children (37 percent) reported that they would like to discuss health issues more often, a roughly equal number (43 percent) say they would talk about if the other brought it up first.
To help older adults and their families facilitate these vital conversations and help them proactively plan for the future, WellPoint has launched Connecting the Generations — a new long-term educational initiative designed to provide valuable education and support to help fill the “gaps” in information between older adults and other generations — to ultimately create a community-at-large that is more informed, engaged and equipped to address important life issues.
“Living a secure and healthy retirement requires more than a good health care plan — it requires a life plan that has been thoughtfully discussed and communicated with family,” said Joan E. Herman, president and chief executive officer of Specialty, Senior and State-Sponsored Business for WellPoint. “Connecting the Generations is an important new component of WellPoint’s commitment to serving the needs of the nation’s growing older adult population and their families. We are excited to launch this program and offer a new level of education and service to help close the communication gaps revealed by the Roper survey.”
“The Roper survey shows that seniors and adult children are comfortable talking about health and aging, but they need to get the conversation started!” said Dr. Edward Schneider, Dean Emeritus of the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. “Often, families discuss these critical life issues under duress usually after a life-changing event impacts their family or friends. The time to talk and plan is now, when plans can be made proactively. Developing these action plans is imperative, enabling families to have peace of mind and a sense of control over their future.”
The first phase of Connecting the Generations includes easily accessible resources to empower seniors and their families including:
The Connecting the Generations Conversation Guide - a 24-page free booklet with tips and information for initiating conversations on critical health and aging issues, with practical checklists for future planning.
A new Web site, (http://www.ConnectingTheGenerations.org) serves as an online resource for older adults and their families to access information on health and aging. It also includes tips for initiating family conversations, an Ask the Expert column with noted gerontology expert and author Dr. Edward Schneider, information on health plan options, and downloadable checklists for future planning.
The initiative will also reach families through an expanding network of on-the-ground community outreach supported through nonprofit, public agency and retail partnerships in select regions across the country.
Future phases of Connecting the Generations will provide new educational tools, training and programs for caregivers, physicians and other health care providers to help serve the health and lifestyle needs and interests of the diverse senior population. The initiative will grow and evolve to utilize and engage WellPoint’s significant networks of physicians, pharmacists and other health care providers, associates, agents, brokers, corporate and community partners.
The Connecting the Generations Conversation Guide, full results of The Roper/WellPoint Survey on Life, Health and Aging, further information on the initiative are available online at http://www.ConnectingTheGenerations.org or by calling 866-406-0984.
About WellPoint, Inc.
WellPoint’s mission is to improve the lives of the people it serves and the health of its communities. WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health benefits company in terms of commercial membership in the United States. Through its nationwide networks, the company delivers a number of leading health benefit solutions through a broad portfolio of integrated health care plans and related services, along with a wide range of specialty products such as life and disability insurance benefits, pharmacy benefit management, dental, vision, behavioral health benefit services, as well as long term care insurance and flexible spending accounts. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, WellPoint is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com.
SOURCE WellPoint, Inc.
CONTACT: Media: Maggie Bava, +1-310-552-4180, Investor Relations: Wayne S. DeVeydt, +1-317-488-6390, both of WellPoint, Inc.
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