Molina Healthcare of California and WEconnect Partner to Support Members in Recovery with Innovative Mobile Program
Caroline Zubieta, Caroline.Zubieta@MolinaHealthcare.com 562-951-1588
LONG BEACH, Calif. – March 14, 2022 – Molina Healthcare of California (“Molina”) today announced an innovative partnership with WEconnect Health Management, in which Molina’s network providers will have access to the WEconnect Recovery mobile platform (“app”) to support Molina members dealing with substance misuse and mental health challenges.
“Molina is excited to partner with WEconnect to support substance use recovery in our Medi-Cal population,” said Abbie Totten, plan president of Molina Healthcare of California. “As a health plan, our duty is to help improve our members’ health outcomes while facilitating access to personalized resources.”
The app provides a supportive environment to Molina’s Medi-Cal members engaged in the recovery process by delivering critical resources to their phones. WEconnect facilitates daily reminders, medical appointment alerts, and rewards milestones with incentives in the form of gift cards for CVS, Safeway, and Amazon, among others. One of the most powerful benefits is members have access to mobile recovery meetings throughout the day and exclusive Molina-enabled peer recovery support services for on-demand, one-on-one support.
According to published reports, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 32% of Californians have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, which correlates to a sharp increase in substance use disorders. For example, in September 2020, 15.1% of U.S. adults reported new or increased substance use due to pandemic-related stress.
“The pandemic has exacerbated mental health and substance misuse for millions of Americans,” said WEconnect CEO and Co-Founder Daniela Luzi Tudor. “Unfortunately, these issues are often missed due to the disconnect between the medical and recovery community. But working together, Molina and WEconnect are taking a new approach to connecting Californians on recovery journeys with proven mobile solutions in a way that works best for them.”
To date, there have been more than 750,000 participants in WEconnect’s mobile recovery meetings and users have reported a reduction in frequency of substance use by as much as 75%. A recent study of 190 Pennsylvania Medicaid members showed that use of the WEconnect app was associated with a 35% higher adherence in filling medication-assisted treatment prescriptions and a 76% higher rate of primary care provider engagement.
Molina encourages its network providers in Sacramento and San Diego to coordinate referrals for Medi-Cal members who may benefit from this new offering.
About Molina Healthcare of California:
Molina Healthcare of California has been providing government-funded care for over 40 years. The Company serves members through Medi-Cal, Medicare, Medicare-Medicaid (Duals) and Covered California (Marketplace). Molina’s service areas include Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Orange County, and Imperial counties. Through its locally operated health plans, Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, served approximately 5.2 million members as of December 31, 2021. For more information about Molina Healthcare of California, visit MolinaHealthcare.com.
About WEconnect Health Management:
WEconnect Health Management is a healthcare technology company focused on solving the biggest public health crisis of our time: substance use disorder. WEconnect Health’s suite of healthcare technology products includes an app which is the first of its kind in the digital healthcare space, providing evidence-based recovery techniques to reduce relapse rates, save lives and support healthy communities. For more information on WEconnect Health, visit our website.