Program offers one-to-one health guidance to improve customers’ over-all health

Mountlake Terrace, Wash., Feb. 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premera Blue Cross announced today a program to help customers achieve balance between lifestyle and healthcare choices through a service providing education on self-management developed by MOBE, a guided health solutions company.

MOBE works with participants to develop a personalized experience, providing a dedicated guide who will work with them to get better sleep, minimize anxiety, manage medications and improve their overall quality of life. Premera was the first health plan to make this program available to its customers.

“Our goal always is to make healthcare work better for all of our customers; and, for this population, working better means learning to use healthcare in healthier ways,” said John Espinola, MD and Executive Vice President at Premera. “MOBE shares in our passion for improving people’s health through innovative solutions.”

“With Premera, we quickly realized we share a passion for serving people’s health needs in ways that meet them where they are. We could not have asked for a better first partner," said Robbie Soskin, President at MOBE. “We look forward to growing our relationship with them while helping more people benefit from personalized support to live a happy, healthy life.” 

MOBE works with Premera customers who haven’t been helped by wellness programs and whose conditions often do not meet the requirements of traditional medical or disease management. Before MOBE, these customers spend an average $20,000 annually on healthcare services seeking help for what some doctors describe as “medically unexplainable” health issues.

For example, David Stokke, from Enumclaw, Wash. is a Premera customer who has been working with MOBE for several months, to manage the constant pain in his leg stemming from an injury he received in his 20s. Coping with constant pain can be a lonely, personal journey, Stokke explained.

“[When I was growing up], my medical doctor provided the full service. Those days are gone in the health industry,” Stokke said. “MOBE fills the gap to get the whole picture.”

With the support from his MOBE Guide, Stokke has turned his reality of living in constant pain to a positive experience by focusing on his health, exercise, happiness and sleep. Prior to MOBE, he never considered returning to coaching high school football. Now, he will begin coaching in the fall and continue to maintain his exercise level.

Published reports from the National Institutes of Health highlights the role self-management plays along with clinical care in helping people enhance overall quality of life. 

About Premera Blue Cross

Premera Blue Cross, a not-for-profit, independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association based in Mountlake Terrace, Wash., is a leading health plan in the Pacific Northwest, providing comprehensive health benefits and tailored services to approximately 2 million people, from individuals to Fortune 100 companies.

About MOBE, LLC

MOBE was founded in 2014 to address a gap in the healthcare system for people who may not be receiving the assistance they need to address their unique and persistent health challenges. MOBE partners with insurance companies and large employers to provide guided health solutions to their customers and employees. Through one-to-one guidance on lifestyle, medication and healthcare choices, MOBE helps people live happy, healthy lives.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f2d54f08-53c4-4a65-afe9-1271bf83c3a1

Bo Jungmayer
Premera Blue Cross
425-921-0717
Bo.Jungmayer@premera.com