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balanceCareFirst in brief

photo: young smiling girl
In an age of new technology, miracle drugs and increasingly sophisticated medical procedures, CareFirst remains committed to meeting the needs of people. From more than 60 years of experience we have learned that the essence of enlightened health care goes beyond medicine and includes personal attention to individual needs, listening and a dependable presence when those we serve need us most.

Balance
Caring for your Mind, Body and Spirit... CareFirst remains Innovative, Flexible, Competent.
Evidence continues to mount that good health depends on more than competent doctors and excellent hospitals. Good health is a state of mind, a sound body and a spirited lifestyle. Helping our members achieve those objectives requires innovative approaches, flexible management of resources and competent associates willing to let go of old ways in favor of new and more effective ones. CareFirst continues to expand the range of non-traditional health care choices for members, adding yoga classes to the CareFirst Options network that provides discounts for acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic care and personal fitness training.
To maintain sound corporate health, CareFirst looks to a management philosophy that values innovation, flexibility, integrity and the importance of putting customers first. Faced with inadequate federal reimbursements, CareFirst reluctantly joined insurers in 33 states last year in withdrawing its deficit-plagued Medicare HMO product from the market. Similar heavy financial losses in the State of Marylandıs Medicaid managed care initiative forced CareFirst to exit much of that market at year's end as well. With cumulative losses over five years in those programs approaching $41 million, we concluded that it was unfair to ask our commercial subscribers to further subsidize, through higher premiums, the failure of these public sector programs to cover the actual costs of providing health care for their members.
Despite these difficult decisions, CareFirst continues to do its part in other ways to assist seniors and the poor. For example, working with the Maryland legislature, CareFirst has pledged $8.8 million over two years to subsidize a new prescription drug program for seniors in rural counties of Maryland. And, CareFirst is contributing $100,000 to equip a clinic serving the dental needs of the poor on Maryland's Eastern Shore.Managing Disease Preventing and managing disease empowers our members. It gives them a role in maintaining their own good health and rewards them with a more active and satisfying quality of life. CareFirst will expand its comprehensive educational and case management programs for members in 2001 by adding cardiovascular disease to currently successful programs that target diabetes and asthma.photo: Virginia R. Lee, R.N.Dawn Hudgins, R.N.Virginia R. Lee, R.N.Dawn Hudgins