UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas recently announced a new $5 million investment in The Multi-Assistance Center at Morgan's Wonderland (The MAC), a new comprehensive facility offering medical and non-medical services as part of its integrated service approach to eliminate two socioeconomic barriers affecting people with special needs: Access to health care, and stable employment.

Through this financing, which will allow the implementation of a Practice without Pressure program and an Employment Support Center for people with disabilities, education, advice and training will also be offered to help this group to obtain and maintain a job. The center will simultaneously help employers with the hiring and retention of people with disabilities.

Donald Langer, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas, stated:

It is at the core of our mission to help people live healthier lives by giving them the support they need, and better care and employment outcomes are big components of that.

Goals

The goal of the Employment Support Center is to provide sustainable inclusive work alternatives, for which it has the support of multiple agencies, including the Texas Workforce Commission and various community organizations.

For its part, this investment, which is part of UnitedHealthcare's long-term commitment to eliminate health disparities and help people live healthier lives, will allow more than 4,430,000 people to use the plans of individual, employer-sponsored Medicare and Medicaid benefits with a network of 988 hospitals and more than 114,000 physicians and other care providers statewide.

Likewise, the resources will be used to strengthen the Practice Without Pressure (PWP) initiative, a methodology that allows people with disabilities to participate in their own health and personal care without restrictions and with a reduced need for sedation.

“Working with the individuals, their caregivers and the clinicians, a PWP Practice Specialist helps desensitize the individual with a disability while humanizing services such as dental care, blood draws, OB-GYN services, or MRI/X-ray,” underlined UnitedHealthcare.

Care for people with disabilities

According to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), disability affects approximately 5.4 million, or nearly 1 in 4 people in Texas (26%).

“Individuals with disabilities often get very fragmented and uncoordinated health care, which causes many barriers to well-being. Through this collaboration, we are helping ensure that special-needs individuals of all ages have a place where they can find the integrated medical and non-medical services that they need,” said Allan Castro, CEO of the Multi-Assistance Center at Morgan’s Wonderland.

About UnitedHealthcare

In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full range of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid recipients, contracting directly with more than 1.5 million physicians and health care professionals, as well as more than 6,700 hospitals and other care centers throughout the country. The company also provides health and care benefits to individuals through owned and operated health care facilities in South America.