Healthy Howard began enrolling members in October 2008. Health care services and coaching began in January 2009. A true public-private partnership, the plan is administered by a non-profit organization – Healthy Howard, Inc.

To learn more about the Healthy Howard Health Plan, including how to apply, please visit www.healthyhowardplan.org. This is the official website of HHHP.

Quick Facts: Healthy Howard Health Plan

Health Plan Overview

Healthy Howard is not insurance. It is a public-private health care program that delivers affordable, high quality health care services to eligible county residents. The plan is:

• Comprehensive – It includes access to primary and preventive health care, urgent care, emergency and inpatient hospital care, major medical specialty care, diagnostic and lab tests, mental health care and deeply discounted prescription drugs.

• Affordable – Members pay a monthly fee and out-of-pocket costs are limited to maintain affordability. The payment and cost sharing structure was developed to keep health care costs below six percent of a member’s monthly income. An individual can join for as little as $50 per month.

• Responsible – Each member is required to work with a health coach to develop and follow a health action plan. The health action plan helps members identify and overcome barriers to healthy living.

• Accountable – A real-time evaluation has been implemented to assess how well the health plan is able to meet its goals regarding improved individual and community health outcomes, cost effectiveness, and appropriate service utilization. The evaluation is led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Health Plan Members – Capturing Those Caught In-between

An estimated 20,000 county residents are uninsured. Healthy Howard was designed to fill an important gap for thousands of working families that find themselves without affordable health care options. They do not have access to an employer-sponsored health plan and cannot afford to purchase private family coverage, but they make too much money to qualify for state or federal programs.

Covered Services

By leveraging existing programs and building new partnerships with health care providers of all kinds, Healthy Howard gives members access to far more than traditional primary-care-only plans. Members have access to the following services provided in Howard County:

- Primary care visits

- Free or deeply discounted prescription drugs

- Diagnostic and lab tests

- Urgent care

- Emergency room care

- In-patient hospital care

- Mental health care

- Substance abuse treatment

- Specialty care

- Referrals to reduced cost dental and vision care

- Rehabilitation services

- Physical and occupational therapy

- Personalized health coaching

Health Coach Model - Focus on Prevention

Built from health behavior and prevention research, Healthy Howard’s health coach model empowers members to take an active role in improving their health. Members are equipped with the resources and support to sustain critical behavior changes over time. This is not the typical coaching offered by traditional plans in which there is a five minute phone call from a rotating roster of voices located in another time zone. Our coaches are part of the community and each member is linked to a specific health coach. Coaches develop a rapport with members through a series of in-person meetings and regular check-ins. Several members have commented how good it makes them feel to know they have a coach “on their side”. Access to a doctor will not, on its own, drastically improve health. The combination of affordable access, health coaching, and personal responsibility will have a positive impact on individuals and our community. This is Healthy Howard.

The Healthy Howard Health Plan is the vision of County Executive Kenneth Ulman and his Health Officer, Dr. Peter Beilenson. Member fees account for a significant portion of the plan’s operating costs; Healthy Howard is also supported by county and private foundation funding.

To learn more about the Healthy Howard Health Plan or to find out if you qualify go to www.healthyhowardplan.org

Healthy Howard Plan Featured on CNN

The Healthy Howard Access Plan was Featured on CNN over the July 12th weekend. CNN's Anchor Tom Foreman remarked "As politicians debate the best way to reform health care, they're looking for models everywhere, all over the world, in different states. One county in Maryland has come to light as providing one example. Our Kate Bolduan was there. She spoke with a woman who says "the county's plan saved her life."

We are pleased to bring you the video. Click here to view it.

Healthy Howard Health Plan featured in Hopkins Magazine

Our innovative initiative to provide health care access to all county residents is the topic of a new article in Johns Hopkins Public Health, the magazine of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Follow this link to read “Keeping Howard Healthy” online.

National Public Radios’s (NPR) All Things Considered Travels to Howard County to Talk about Health Care

From NPR: “With health care overhaul back on Washington's agenda, NPR went to one locale to see how the big national issues play out there. In Howard County, Md., a prosperous suburb near Baltimore, we spoke with patients, doctors, administrators and employers about the costs of health care and access to the health care system.”

• June 15, 2009 – The Trials of Paying for Health Care in a RecessionPatients, doctors and employers in Howard County talk about how expensive health care is — and how hard it is to pay for in a recession. Click here to listen to the podcast.

• June 16, 2009 – In New Model, County Offers Low-Cost Health Care A new county-based program aims to provide the uninsured access to health care. Lessons learned from this effort will inform the larger health care debate. Click here to listen to the podcast.

• June 19, 2009 – The Costs of Health Care – Finding Ways to SaveHealth care providers are seeking ways to save costs. Getting people to go to primary care doctors instead of the emergency room, electronic record keeping and a single-payer system are discussed. Click here to listen to the podcast.