Elevance Health brings together the concepts of elevate and advance, exemplified by our bold purpose of improving the health of humanity. We are a health company dedicated to making real progress toward improving the health of the people and communities we serve.
Ideas That Explore How to Elevate and Advance Health
Elevance Health Impact
What it Means to Infuse a Whole-Health Approach in Health Insurance BenefitsBrandi Hebert is a young professional with a full life, working as a teacher, living independently, and keeping a busy schedule. She’s also living with the effects of a brain tumor that has impacted her speech and mobility and requires regular physical therapy. For Kurt Small, president of Medicaid at Elevance Health, Brandi is proof that good health doesn’t only come from a visit to a doctor's office.
Elevance Health Impact
Improving Healthcare Means Taking a Broader ViewWithout a place to call home and caught in a familiar and unwanted cycle of emergency room visits and hospitalizations, James Bastel didn’t eat regularly and wasn’t able to consistently take his medications. His health-related social needs also got in the way of his ability to establish a regular relationship with a doctor or clinic.
Health Equity
Health equity is about giving everyone the chance to be as healthy as possible. More equitable healthcare is attainable. However, health inequities impact all of us, causing higher illness and death rates and greater financial strain at both community and national levels. It is imperative we overcome these barriers that prevent better health for everyone.
A Health Equity Story
Why Health Equity Affects Us All
Health equity and health equality have very different meanings, which may be best explained through an example. Say you went to buy new shoes for your three children. Beyond choosing which shoes they like, the children also need shoes that fit, because they should be able to walk, run, and play with their friends without worrying about shoes that pinch their feet or could fall off.
While “equality” would have dictated that they get the same size shoes — ignoring their differences and specific needs — “equity” prevailed because getting them the shoe size that fit was fair and what they needed to succeed. The consequence of an “equality” approach could have meant sore feet and maybe even injuries. There is a nuanced but important distinction between the two concepts.
We are cultivating and sustaining a system that advances health equity by collaborating with care and service providers and communities, tailoring policies and programs, and supporting greater access to care.”
Elevance Health Chief Health Officer