Color Partners with Teamsters to Increase Access to Healthcare
Color and the Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity today announced a partnership that unlocks clinical genetics and data-driven health for nearly 14,000 members, spouses and adult dependents. This new initiative breaks down traditional barriers to precision health programs by dramatically increasing access, convenience, and cost-effectiveness.
Members, spouses and adult dependents from 13 locals now have access to Color’s clinical grade genomic services, including physician-ordered genetic tests, board-certified genetic counselors, and clinical pharmacists, enabling them to better understand their risk for certain hereditary cancers, heart disease, and genes that may impact medication response. This deeper understanding of risk empowers members with critical health information and helps inform decisions about care, which can lead to better outcomes at scale. By offering these services to spouses and adult dependents, this partnership underscores the unions’ support for their members and families, as well as Color’s unique role in providing a different model of healthcare that increases family engagement in health and prevention.
In the first two months of the program, more than 1,100 members, spouses and adult dependents have already taken Color. Among those participants, 53% of the individuals who learned of an increased risk for hereditary cancer and heart conditions would not have met insurance coverage requirements. For these individuals particularly, Color is a cost effective, convenient, and accessible service that delivers potentially life saving information that was previously out of reach.
Teamsters members spend a significant amount of time on the road, making in-person physician visits a challenge to schedule and attend. Color’s unique services, including clinical grade genetic testing that can be done conveniently at home or on the road, and the integration of this benefit by the Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund, is a prime example of how new models of health care delivery can offer solutions to close gaps in health equity. Members had requested the Fund provide access to this information after many members were denied coverage under traditional, more expensive approaches to genetic testing.
“Like other specialty programs under the Fund’s benefits plan, Color’s program offers members and their families an opportunity to better understand potential risk through its genetic testing program,” said Maria Scheeler, Executive Director of the Fund. “This program gives participating members in-depth knowledge about their hereditary risk and provides information to help them make informed medical and lifestyle decisions. Partnering with Color has empowered our members to take control of their health and provided them with a sense of relief from uncertainty.”
“We are proud to join the Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity in supporting their hard working members,” said Othman Laraki, CEO, Color. “This partnership showcases the role that precision health programs can play in helping individuals, regardless of their access to traditional health services, to change their health for the better.”
About Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity
The Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity was established in 1951 and provides benefits for approximately 17,000 employees and dependents in several states, primarily, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The Fund has approximately 45 employees who administer these benefits. The mission of Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity and its Board of Trustees is to fulfill the Fund’s responsibility and commitment to excellence in providing and maintaining quality health care benefits in a cost-efficient manner.
About Color
Color is the leader in delivering precision healthcare through cutting-edge technology. Color makes data-driven health programs such as clinical genetics accessible, convenient, and cost-effective for everyone. Color partners with leading health systems, premier employers, and national health initiatives around the world including the million-person All of Us program by the National Institutes of Health. For more information about Color, visit www.color.com
