As of Friday, nearly 55% of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
Despite a strong start, that figure now puts the nation behind several other countries as far as vaccination rates.
A big part of the issue with the modestly increasing vaccination rates in the U.S. is widespread skepticism, often fueled by misinformation campaigns. To some degree, however, the seemingly stalled progress is also linked to a growing population of difficult-to-reach homebound individuals.
From 2011 to 2019, the population of homebound adults consistently hovered around 5%, according to a recent study from Mount Sinai researchers. That spiked to about 13% in 2020, with an estimated 4.2 million adults categorized as homebound.
To help move the needle and better reach seniors in their homes, Clover Health (Nasdaq: CLOV) announced that it’s teaming up with MedArrive, an up-and-coming health care logistics and services platform led by Dan Trigub, the former head of Uber Health.
Through the partnership, Clover will work with MedArrive to provide in-home COVID-19 vaccinations to Clover’s Medicare Advantage (MA) members. The effort will initially kick off in New Jersey.
“Many Clover members have disabilities or face other challenges that can make it difficult for them to leave their homes, even to obtain life-saving medical care like the COVID-19 vaccine,” Kumar Dharmarajan, associate chief medical officer of Clover Health, said in a statement. “This service allows our most vulnerable members to get essential care in the most timely and convenient way possible, which we believe will ultimately improve their quality of life, reduce hospital admissions and drive down healthcare costs.”
Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Clover is a next-generation insurance company that operates in both the MA and direct-contracting landscapes. In each of those programs, Clover additionally offers primary care services and comprehensive home-based care, the latter of which is made available via its “Clover Home Care” program.
MedArrive officially launched in December 2020 with $4.5 million in seed funding.
“Our core belief is that clinical care is moving away from the traditional four walls of a clinical setting or a hospital setting, with more and more care being delivered into the home,” Trigub, the CEO of MedArrive, told Home Health Care News at the time. “And frankly, [care] has to, given the environment we’re in with the pandemic.”
MedArrive received additional investment from SCAN Health Plan in August.
MedArrive has more than 50,000 field providers, including EMS professionals, in its national network. Its offerings include complex condition monitoring, transitional care, readmission prevention, vaccinations, medication administration and more.
“We strive to help as many Medicare eligibles across the country as possible overcome health care barriers by meeting them where they are and coordinating care with the care teams they already know and trust,” Trigub said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Clover because we believe in their approach to addressing health equity and the way they leverage coordinated primary care to drive health outcomes improvement and medical expense reduction for their members.”
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