WellCare Health, Fitbit Collaborate To Aid Diabetes Patients

WellCare Health Plans, Inc.’s (NYSE:WCG) company WellCare of Georgia recently entered into a partnership with Fitbit, Inc. (NYSE:FIT) to provide Fitbit devices for WellCare Medicaid members in Georgia who are willing to control their diabetes level by taking their annual diabetic eye exams. WellCare's Fitbit Diabetes Program is the first Medicaid program that will include Fitbit.

Commencing Jan 1, 2020, Georgia Medicaid members aged 18 years and above who are enrolled in the Fitbit Diabetes Program, a Fitbit Inspire, will have access to diabetes diagnosis upon completion of their annual diabetic eye test. With this move, the company expects to help members manage their diabetes and other diseases that might occur from the same.

The combination of WellCare’s current range of management resources and Fitbit’s fitness tracker is expected to improve patient health outcomes. Many health insurers such as Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) and Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) are using wearables as a preventive measure to track their member's health. Last year, Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM). also extended its multi-year partnership with Fitbit, to aid Humana's members in the employer group segment to adopt and implement healthy behaviors, which in turn would prevent and manage chronic health conditions.

Wearables are gaining prominence in the healthcare industry. They come in handy to track fitness and post-operative care of patients within a short span of time. Doctors are using wearables to keep track of patients’ health. Moreover, smart wearable sensors not only help in health monitoring but also in data analysis.

For health insurers, using wearables is a way to control medical claim costs, which would aid their margins.

As of Sep 30, 2019, the company served around 492,000 Medicaid members, 52,000 Medicare Advantage plan members and 26,000 Medicare Prescription Drug Plan members in Georgia.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have surged 43.4% in a year’s time, outperforming its industry’s growth of 19%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



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