By Carol Newman
Florida Blue has been serving the state for nearly 80 years. As your local Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan, the mission-based, community-focused not-for-profit is uniquely positioned and committed to helping people and communities achieve better health. As part of that commitment, they work to improve the affordability, accessibility and equality of health care, address social determinants of health, and identify factors negatively impacting the well-being of their local communities.
Florida Blue believes that everyone deserves access to high quality and affordable health care. They provide health plans for individuals, families, seniors, and employers of every size. For businesses large or small, Florida Blue has a portfolio of affordable health plans and wellness programs to help manage the bottom line and keep workforces healthy.
Whether teams are working in the office, from home, or hybrid, Florida Blue meets you where you are. At the core of this philosophy are the Florida Blue Centers.
Sprinkled throughout the state, Florida Blue Centers have long been a trusted resource in the communities they serve, helping members (and non-members) navigate their health care and live healthier, happier lives.
The company has close to 50 locations across the state, with 12 of those Florida Blue Centers located in South Florida including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and in Port St. Lucie.
These centers have served as hubs of information and education during the annual and busy enrollment season where individuals and families can receive personal consultations and guidance on health plans available to them. For the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the open enrollment period opens this year on November 1, and for Medicare, the annual enrollment period starts October 15. It is at the centers where licensed sales agents and service advocates are ready to help members and potential members alike.
It is the registered nurses and community specialists (licensed social workers/case managers) that make the Florida Blue center experience even more unique. Nurses are available at the centers to help with care navigation, provide health coaching to members and even host a variety of community health-driven activities such as free health seminars, lunch and learns and fitness classes like Zumba, yoga and Tai Chi that are open to the public.
Community specialists are available to Florida members or anyone in the community, and help connect people with key neighborhood resources, at no charge. When it comes to meeting the health care needs of Florida Blue members—like seniors or those with low incomes and chronic illnesses— these trained case managers maintain deeply rooted community relationships that assist with removing barriers and connecting members to the specific resources.
For example, community specialists help address the basic needs and social determinants of health, such as housing, transportation, and food insecurity to help customers improve well-being. They nurture trusting relationships that connect members to the right services at the right time and place, and support and champion member efforts. Ultimately, they empower consumers and provide them with a superior, personalized experience.
Florida Blue has a number of programs that match care resources to members and non-members and would like to thank all social workers for the important work they do every day in our communities. So often, this work can get overlooked.
And a special thank you to the Florida Blue Community Specialists for the care, compassion and support they uniquely provide, day in and day out.
They include:
Ana Luisa Rodriguez – Palm Beach Center – 1501 North Congress Avenue, Boynton Beach, FL 33426
Denise Bartley – Sunrise Center – 1970 Sawgrass Mills Circle, Sunrise, FL 33323
Sandra Jawor – Hialeah Center – 1001 W. 49th Street, Ste. 8, Hialeah, FL 33012
Elma Pierre – North Miami Center – 13665 Biscayne Blvd., North Miami, FL 33181
Maria Kesti – Miami Center – 8895 SW 136th Street, Miami, FL 33176
Driven by its mission of helping people and communities achieve better health, Florida Blue serves more than 6 million members across the state. Headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, Florida Blue, a trade name of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For additional information about Florida Blue, please visit www.floridablue.com or call (877) 352-5830.
