MIAMI, March 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Papa, the category-defining innovator and national leader in in-home support, today announced Papa Plus, a new model that integrates its trusted companion care services with targeted quality programs, transforming in-home support into a direct, outcomes-oriented engagement channel for health plans.
For years, plans have struggled to reliably engage their most complex and socially isolated members. Digital outreach and fragmented care management approaches often fail to address the “last-mile” barriers that prevent members from completing preventive care or adhering to treatment plans. Papa Plus closes that gap.
The new model is powered by Papa’s nationwide network of vetted Papa Pals and technology-enabled engagement pathways refined through years of health plan partnerships. Within this structure, trusted Papa Pals provide member-directed support for health-related social needs, while also supporting plan-directed tasks to advance quality objectives with targeted members in the home. This may include scheduling and accompanying members to annual wellness visits to close a care gap, providing support after hospital discharge to prevent readmission, or helping a member use telehealth to improve access.
With Papa Plus, members continue to receive consistent, personalized help for everyday needs, while health plans gain a seamless, direct-to-member engagement channel that drives measurable outcomes across quality ratings, healthcare utilization, member satisfaction, and retention, for a guaranteed return on investment (ROI).
“Papa was founded on the belief that human connection is essential to improving health and driving better outcomes,” said Papa Founder and CEO Andrew Parker. “Our health plan partners have seen that same truth and increasingly look to Papa to help address engagement, quality, and performance priorities. Papa Plus is the culmination of those partnerships and the natural evolution of Papa’s proven companion care model. Years ago, Papa reinvented in-home support by establishing a national network of trusted Papa Pals and a platform that enables them to deliver personalized help inside members’ homes. Papa Plus builds on that foundation, amplifying this trusted human presence with outcomes-aligned technology and reporting layers. The result is a reliable way to engage members, support care goals, and achieve quality outcomes at scale.”
Engaging members at home to drive managed care goals
Managing CMS Star Ratings performance increasingly depends on health plans’ ability to engage their medically complex, socially isolated, and otherwise hard-to-reach members.
Historically, “nice-to-have” in-home support benefits have been disconnected from core “must-have” care management services. As a result, plans have had to rely heavily on fragmented, digital-first, or transactional outreach approaches that fall short of addressing the real “last-mile” barriers that cause members to delay care, skip medications, disengage entirely, or routinely return to the emergency department.
Throughout 3 million visits across more than 10,000 cities, Papa has established a unique and proven ability to engage members in person across the country and help address these last-mile challenges. Papa Plus formalizes that capability into a unified, scalable platform that health plans can rely on to activate members and advance care initiatives in the home—bridging the gap between care management strategy and real-world member follow-through.
"Health plans are no longer questioning if they should engage members at home, but how to do it reliably, safely, simply, and at scale. Passive, transactional approaches don’t work for members who struggle to engage,” said Papa’s Senior Vice President of Healthcare Strategy, Austin Weaver, who joined the company last year and previously built and scaled the Medicare business at Hinge Health. “Papa is the only non-clinical solution that can connect a member with a trusted Papa Pal in person to help close plan-identified care gaps or support post-discharge follow-through. We’re so confident in that ability that we’re putting fees at risk to prove it.”
Fully configurable, Papa’s quality programs are available alongside companion care for the deepest impact and greatest value as Papa Plus, or as standalone, performance-based programs to help plans drive quality outcomes at any budget. Learn more about Papa Plus at www.papa.com/papa-plus.
About Papa
Papa is the most comprehensive and strategic in-home support platform, connecting health plan members and families with highly vetted companions called Papa Pals. Our core companion care model provides personalized, hyper-local support on a national scale, addressing the root social needs that impact a person's health and well-being. Papa Plus builds on this foundation by unifying companion care and targeted, outcomes-driven quality programs. Purpose-built for health plans, Papa Plus transforms in-home support into a trusted, direct-to-member channel to drive engagement on managed care initiatives, like closing care gaps and reducing readmissions. Built on human connection and validated through millions of visits and dozens of studies, Papa’s first-of-its-kind care model has been shown to improve member engagement, enhance quality of life, and contribute to more informed use of healthcare services—leading to lower costs and better health. We’re driven by our vision of a world where no one has to go it alone. Learn more at papa.com.
Jillian Bongiorni Meadows Papa Inc. 15167292250 jmeadows@papa.com
