Anthem December Chamber Update

Did you know?

Diabetes is most companies’ biggest health care cost.¹That’s because people with diabetes are more likely to have other health issues such as dental problems, which can be very costly for them and you. For instance:

• 7 million Americans over the age of 30 suffer from gum disease² — but people with diabetes who treat their gum disease have 39% fewer hospital admissions and 40% lower medical costs.³
• $64 billion in productivity is lost every year due to dental problems.⁴

That’s why Anthem developed the Whole Health Connection^SMprogram – to help lower diabetes-related costs and get your employees the support they need.

How Whole Health Connection works

The Anthem Whole Health Connection program links your medical plan with your dental plan, helping doctors and your employees see how dental health is connected to overall health. When one of your employees is identified as having diabetes or being high-risk for it, Whole Health Connection proactively helps them by:

• Automatically enrolling them in extra dental cleanings or gum procedures.
• Sending them diabetes-specific dental care alerts.
• Providing wellness resources such as dental health education kits, Ask a Hygienist helpline, dental cost estimator, dental risk assessment and nurse coaches.

To find out more about how the Anthem Whole Health Connection program can help you lower costs and improve your employees’ health, go to https://www.specialtybenefits.info/oh.

¹American Diabetes Association website: Health Care Spending on Diabetes in the U.S., 1996–2013 (accessed October 11, 2018): http://care.diabetesjournals.org.

²American Academy of Periodontology website: Periodontal Disease Fact Sheet (accessed October 15, 2018): perio.org.

³American Journal of Preventive Medicine’s Impact of Periodontal Therapy on General Health Study, June 2014.

⁴U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Community Insurance Company. Independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.