According to Health.gov, “Social determinants of health (SDOH) have a major impact on people’s health, well-being, and quality of life.” Healthy People 2030 defines SDOH as the conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, etc., that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risk.” Examples of SDOH include access to safe housing, neighborhoods, education, job opportunities, income, language, and literacy skills. In essence, they are the non-medical factors impacting health outcomes.
Helping with utility and bill payment can help address SDOH like income, neighborhoods, and job opportunities. Target populations, such as low-income health plan members, may struggle with utility shutoffs or dangerous environmental conditions due to unpaid utility bills, as well as the stress factors and limited access to other SDOH that may come with the loss of basic utilities. Ultimately, we believe that being able to easily pay utility bills is essential to members’ happiness, physical well-being, and state of mind.
With InComm Healthcare’s supplemental benefit card, utility and bill payment benefits allow members to pay bills using their supplemental funds. This means health plans can help address SDOH by easily modifying their current plan – improving member satisfaction and long-term health outcomes with the security and peace-of-mind that comes with home and utility stability.
