Preventive care is beneficial for many reasons. In addition to promoting overall wellness, routine medical and dental checkups can detect larger health issues early on— allowing for timelier intervention and better outcomes.

The Blue Plus Healthy Rewards Member Incentive Program supports members who receive their healthcare benefits through one of two state public health programs: Medical Assistance (Medicaid) or MinnesotaCare. Members enrolled in the program earn rewards for completing a range of preventive health services, including diabetes management, mental wellbeing, and early childhood screenings.

Initially, the program provided vouchers for each preventive care visit completed. Members would then redeem the vouchers for a one-time use gift card.

In spring 2023, Blue Cross rolled out several enhancements to the program, which included replacing the voucher gift card system with a reloadable rewards card and introducing a digital platform to help members track their rewarded preventive care activities.

Maria Kannankutty, implementation and strategic execution director at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, says the enhanced program provides convenience that can better meet the unique needs of members.

“45% of our Medicaid members are children,” Kannankutty says. “Instead of issuing multiple cards for every child and activity completed in the same home, we now issue one reloadable rewards card per household making it easier for families to earn and redeem their rewards.”

With the new program, most rewards are now earned automatically based on claims data submitted by providers. Once members enroll online, they will see a customized dashboard with activities their household needs to complete to earn rewards. Once an activity is identified and verified though Blue Cross’ claims systems, rewards are automatically loaded onto the household debit card.

Blue Cross partnered with Bravo, who administers similar health incentive programs across the country, and WEX, who administers reloadable and branded rewards cards options, to ensure an excellent user experience. The Bravo platform enables tracking of rewarded activities at the individual and household levels, ensuring that parents and guardians can earn rewards for their eligible activities, as well as those of children in their care. The Bravo platform is integrated with WEX reloadable rewards cards, enabling participants to view their card balance and utilization within a single digital experience.

“Our goal is to make the user experience as streamlined as possible,” says Charlie Zei, vice president of strategy and partnerships at Bravo. “The easier it is to use the preventive care dashboard and redeem the rewards, the more likely members are to seek preventive care.”

Learn more

Members must enroll into the program to receive rewards. Certain restrictions apply regarding eligible purchases. Certain preventive screenings will continue to be processed using individual vouchers to maintain member confidentiality. Learn more about the Healthy Rewards program at www.bluecrossmn.com/HealthyRewards.