With stock market volatility and worrying headlines about how long the pandemic will last, it’s hard not to feel uneasy and question what the future holds. Consider these tips and resources to help you work through financial decisions and challenges that you may face in the weeks ahead.

Create a budget

Make a list of your regular monthly expenses, like rent, loan payments, utilities, food, etc. Compare that with your household’s take-home pay. If you are bringing home more money than your expenses, consider putting a bit of the extra to the side as a financial cushion. If your budget is more than you bring home each month, look for places you can cut to make ends meet. For help, visit www.consumer.gov.

Control your spending

Being isolated and bored at home can give you a lot of time to shop online. With so much uncertainty, it’s important to resist the urge to buy impulse items. Prioritize your most important financial obligations such as food, shelter and transportation first, and items like household décor and extra clothing last. If necessary, consider pausing automatic bill payments so you can control the payment timing until you are on better financial footing.

Contact your lenders (mortgage, car, rent, utilities, student loans, etc.)

If you are unable to work due to COVID-19 – you’ve fallen ill, your place of employment has temporarily closed, you have to stay home and take care of children or loved ones who are ill, etc. – you may not be able to pay your bills. Many lenders have set up exceptions, special accommodations and relief funds to support the public during this health crisis. Take advantage of them.

Reach out to your credit card company

Even if your credit card issuer has not formally released a statement of support, if you are at risk of missing a payment, it is worthwhile to contact the company to discuss your options. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) advises on its website that during a disaster, “Your creditors will likely work with you on a solution, but it’s important to contact them as soon as possible and explain your situation.” Late payments can hurt your credit score, and pile on extra charges and fees, so getting ahead of the issue will save you down the road.

Be aware of financial scams

If you receive a phone call, text message or email asking for your financial information in exchange for COVID-19 testing or medication, do not provide it. Unfortunately, fraudulent companies are taking advantage of people worried about COVID-19 and trying to steal their money and/or sensitive information by offering unproven cures. In particular, note that the World Health Organization is warning about people posing as their representatives to get sensitive information and solicit donations through emails, phone calls, text messages and even fax messages. You can find links to sources of fraud reports at MagellanHealthcare.com/COVID-19/fraud.

Discuss finances with your partner or someone you trust

Concerns over money is at or near the top of the list of things that stress most of us out. It’s important to communicate with your partner and family about finances on a regular basis to understand your situation and agree on financial priorities. If necessary, consult with a financial professional.

Access community resources

• State and local human service agencies can connect you with public assistance programs such as food stamps or emergency financial funds, Medicaid, housing and the like. Learn more at hhs.gov/programs/social-services/index.html.
• The United Way has information on food banks, clothing closets, shelters, rent and utility assistance, support for older Americans and persons with disabilities, etc. Visit www.unitedway.org.
• Aunt Bertha is a social care network where you can search for services like medical care, food, job training, transportation and more, right in your area. Visit www.auntbertha.com.
• The U.S. Government offers benefit information for individuals younger than age 55. Visit www.benefits.gov.

To learn more about what Magellan Healthcare is doing to support clients during the  COVID-19 pandemic, visit  MagellanHealthcare.com/COVID-19.

To learn more about Magellan Health’s corporate response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to view Magellan’s available resources click here: https://www.magellanhealth.com/news/covid-19/

The following is an excerpt from the 2018 Magellan Community Impact Report.

Standing tall is a tall order. How do  you know what the right thing is? Answers aren’t often cut and dried. Instead, we know by having lived through similar, difficult experiences ourselves and standing beside those we support—standing together as peers on the path to recovery.

Living through the same kinds  of challenges

Magellan’s recovery support navigators represent our best practice approach to tapping the power and potential of peer support. Peer support is an evidence-based practice, and numerous studies continue to validate the effectiveness of these supports. Recovery support navigators are professionals who have lived experiences with some of the same challenges our members face. They have experienced substance use disorders or psychiatric disabilities and may have personally been homeless, had their utilities turned off or experienced food insecurity. They can relate to the members they support, empathize, and then draw on real-world solutions to help them.

Sharing our stories

Every day recovery support navigators show up and not only listen to and support our members, but also share pieces of their own stories to inspire hope and change. Dana Foglesong, director of recovery and resiliency services for Magellan Complete Care of Florida, knows first-hand the transformative power a peer specialist can have. She knows not just because she has been certified as a peer recovery specialist since 2010, but because Dana had the support of a peer support specialist herself.

Dana describes her journey: “In my late teens and early twenties, I bounced from state hospitals to crisis stabilization units. I was desperate to end my life. I had no hope that my former goals could ever be realized. When I started working with a peer specialist, I began to view myself and my future more positively. My peer specialist expected me to recover and connected me to the resources that empowered my recovery process.”

Dana not only recovered—she has thrived! She recently completed a master’s degree in social work and leads Magellan’s diverse team of recovery support navigators. She has been awarded for her commitment to providing help and hope to others, including for her work founding the Peer Support Coalition in Florida, which expands leadership, advocacy and employment opportunities for people, like her, with lived experience. Dana describes her life now, saying: “At Magellan, I have the opportunity to do such meaningful, passion-filled work. It keeps me inspired and grateful to be a part of helping our members lead healthy, vibrant lives.”

Leading the way

Magellan was the first managed care company in the United States to recognize and incorporate peer support services into the continuum of care. Since 1999, we have been a leader in increasing access to peer support through partnerships with the recovery community and providers. We have assisted state customers in developing robust certified peer specialist capabilities, driven in large part by our depth and breadth of experience. Magellan continues to create shared learning opportunities for the peer workforce and others to improve and enhance the knowledge, skills, and competencies of the peer workforce.

Parity Progress

Ten years ago today, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was passed into law. This ground-breaking legislation required health plans to treat mental health and substance use conditions like physical medical conditions without treatment or financial limitations. For more than 40 years, Magellan has wholeheartedly supported and actively advocated for parity. Every day, we work together with our customers — health plans, employers, state Medicaid and military and government clients — to innovate new solutions on behalf of those we serve, which continues to advance the law and helps to reduce the stigma around mental health and substance use issues. At Magellan, mental health is fundamentally as important as physical wellness, but it’s just a start.

Beyond equal to individualized and integrated

While our country has made positive strides in parity, we know achieving a healthy, vibrant life is tied to many factors beyond parity – namely social determinants, such as housing, poverty, education and access to transportation and healthy food. One way we are addressing and accounting for these social determinants is by focusing on providing individualized, integrated care.

Complete Care-Person-centered. Community-focused. Evidence-based.

A great example is Magellan Complete Care, which operates person-centered health plans that provide complete care coordination for recipients in Medicare and Medicaid. In the state of Florida, we developed the first-in-the-nation Medicaid specialty health plan to integrate physical and behavioral healthcare and address the social determinants of health for individuals living with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. In Arizona, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia, our Medicaid health plans integrate the full continuum of healthcare services – including mental health and substance use disorder services and treatments individualized to help each member live their healthiest, most vibrant life.

Integrated Health Neighborhoods

Magellan Complete Care plan participants include many individuals who contend with complex conditions that impact their physical health and mental well-being every single day. These individuals need to stay connected to their families, friends, neighbors and others in their communities to maintain independence and achieve optimal health and well-being. Doing so makes the difference between surviving and thriving. To these ends, we have pioneered a care coordination model called the Integrated Health Neighborhood (SM).

This model challenges the definition of what you might think a traditional health plan does for its members. Instead of just focusing on physical and behavioral health treatment, Integrated Health Neighborhoods work within existing community support agencies and local public health systems to strengthen and extend their reach. Our local teams help each member navigate these systems and supports based on their needs as well as their preferences for connecting in their own communities. This helps minimize member disruption through the use of familiar local provider networks and support from trusted community organizations.

Our Integrated Health Network teams are comprised of Magellan associates who live in the same communities as the members they serve. Our assigned teams personally know people at agencies, organizations and local resources across their neighborhood, whom they can call on, person to person, to find the right resources for each member. They work collaboratively to help each individual member find his/her path to independence and well-being.

Recovery Support Navigators

A unique part of the team are the Recovery Support Navigators. These are certified peer support specialists who have lived experiences with some of the same challenges our members face – they have experienced substance use disorders or psychiatric disabilities and may have personally been homeless, had their utilities turned off or experienced food insecurity. They can relate to the members they support, empathize, and then draw on real-world solutions to help them.

For the past 20 years, Magellan has been a leader in increasing access to peer support through partnerships with the recovery community and providers.  We have assisted state customers in developing robust certified peer specialist capabilities, driven in large part by our depth and breadth of experience.   We create shared learning opportunities for the peer workforce and others to improve and enhance the knowledge, skills, and competencies of the peer workforce across the continuum.  Our Recovery Support Navigators represent our best practice approach to tapping the power and potential of peer support.

We know people are more than just a diagnosis – or multiple diagnoses. Truly living healthy, vibrant lives means seeing more than parity for the pieces. It’s seeing and caring for the whole person and bringing together the right resources across the community to help. Integration and individualization are the next steps, and I am proud to say Magellan is out front and on the ground in neighborhoods around the country, taking these steps with our partners and members – together!