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Dear Juniper Community,

We are busy building a better Juniper experience and need to take a brief pause before we begin scheduling new classes.

Our goal is to have our new systems in place by early 2026, at which point we will resume scheduling classes.

That doesn’t mean you can’t sign up! Please feel free to contact us at 1-855-215-2174 or email info@yourjuniper.org to be added to our waiting list. You can also add your name to the waiting list at the link below.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but we promise it will be worth the wait! We appreciate your patience as we enhance the Juniper experience for everyone.

Your partners in health,
The Juniper Team 

Join the Waitlist

Photo of several people using exercise bands on their arms while seated.

Medicare Open Enrollment is approaching (October 15-December 7) and you may be evaluating plan options and making changes for 2026.

In case it is helpful in your decision making, we want to share which health plans will include Juniper as a benefit in 2026. Below is a list showing which classes will be covered by health plans beginning January 1, 2026.

Covers all Juniper Classes

Covers Diabetes Prevention Program

Blue Cross & Blue Shield

HealthPartners

UCare

PrimeWest Health

Notably, with UCare exiting as a health plan for Medicare Advantage, we will no longer be able to bill for UCare Medicare Advantage plans in 2026. UCare had been including Diabetes Prevention Program as a covered benefit through Juniper for Medicare Advantage members. 

We are grateful for the partnerships that we have with these health plans as they help us to sustain our classes.  

Having Juniper as a benefit guarantees that our classes are free for you. As always, if you do not have Juniper as a health plan benefit you are still welcome to participate in classes, but may be asked to pay a fee. Fees vary depending on the class type and instructor. 

We are committed to providing quality classes and ensuring sustainability by continuing to work with health care. Thank you for trusting us with your health! 

We are excited to announce Juniper is taking the next step in our evolution to have an even greater impact.

We are working to build a stronger, more integrated network of services as a community care hub. This model connects community organizations, healthcare providers, public health organizations and health insurers, bridging the gap between medical and social care. This work began with evidence-based health promotion classes, and we will continue to build on that momentum and add other social services to our community care hub.

Expanding the community care hub model requires upgrades to our current technology systems, including yourjuniper.org.

We will not be scheduling evidence-based health promotion classes while we build a better Juniper technology platform. This new system will have a wider variety of services to choose from in addition to a menu of health promotion classes.

We will continue to use yourjuniper.org through the end of 2025. All classes currently in progress or scheduled will continue as planned unless you hear from your class leader. Our plan is to bring a new and improved Juniper network online at the beginning of 2026, at which point we will resume scheduling classes.

Since our community care hub bill did not pass the Minnesota legislature this past spring, there is less grant funding to support free and low-cost evidence-based health promotion classes in 2026. You therefore may notice a decrease in class availability next year. We will be working hard with our class leaders and partner organizations this fall to develop a robust plan for 2026 classes.

We apologize for any inconvenience this upgrade may cause. Please feel free to reach out to info@yourjuniper.org or your class leader with any questions you have about Juniper.

Thank you for being part of the Juniper community!

Minnesota Capitol building exterior

Juniper has been working to pass legislation that would provide $9.9 million in one-time funding to expand Minnesota’s community care hub. This expanded hub would significantly improve access to social care, allowing residents—especially those in underserved or rural areas—to receive comprehensive support without the challenges of navigating multiple systems. You can find more information about the community care hub and the list of supporting organizations on our website.

Call to action

The state legislature will soon meet to compare House and Senate versions of the human services finance bill. The Senate’s version of the bill includes a fully funded community care hub, but the House version does not include any funding for the hub.

We are asking the entire Juniper network to contact members of the conference committee and their staff to urge them to adopt the Senate version of the human services finance bill. This is a critical moment for the community care hub and we need your support!

Below you will find a script to use when calling and emailing legislators, as well as contact information for the conference committee members. Your voice is especially needed if you are a constituent of any of the conference committee members listed below.

If you have any questions about advocating for the community care hub, please contact us at info@yourjuniper.org.  

Thank you for your support of Juniper and the community care hub! 

Call/email script

Hello, I’m reaching out to urge you to support funding for an expanded community care hub in Minnesota by adopting the Senate’s human services omnibus finance bill.

The community care hub model is a proven approach that aligns clinical care with social supports, improving health outcomes while saving taxpayer dollars. By investing in this model, we can build a stronger foundation for healthier, more resilient communities across our state. Thank you for your commitment to advancing this important work and supporting the health and prosperity of all Minnesotans.

Conference committee members and staff

Photo of the Minnesota Capitol building exterior.

Juniper has been working to pass legislation that would provide $9.9 million in one-time funding to expand Minnesota’s community care hub. This expanded hub would significantly improve access to social care, allowing residents—especially those in underserved or rural areas—to receive comprehensive support without the challenges of navigating multiple systems. 

Recently we learned that the community care hub bill—Senate File 554—was included in the Minnesota Senate omnibus human services budget bill (Senate File 3054) at the fully requested amount. This is an exciting development for the community care hub and gets us closer to passing the legislation, but there is still work to be done. 

What’s next

From here, the Minnesota Senate and House must form a conference committee and reach an agreement about an omnibus budget bill. It is imperative that members of the House and the Senate hear about the critical need for the community care hub as a way to better serve Minnesotans while saving taxpayer dollars. 

Call to action

We are asking all Juniper friends, participants, supporters and partners to contact members of Minnesota’s House of Representatives and Senate to urge them to include the community care hub in the omnibus budget bill.

You can look up your representatives using this online tool.

Below is sample language you can use in email or voicemail messages to members of the House and Senate. If you have any questions about advocating for the community care hub, please contact us at info@yourjuniper.org.  

Thank you for your support of Juniper and the community care hub! 

Sample email/voicemail language

Dear Senator/Representative [name], 

I urge you to support funding for an expanded community care hub in Minnesota. Please keep SF 554 in the omnibus Human Services budget, SF 3054, as you enter budget negotiations this legislative session.  

The community care hub model has been shown to align clinical care and social care for the best possible health outcomes all while saving taxpayer dollars. The hub will serve as a catalyst for lasting positive change in Minnesota, creating a foundation for healthier, more resilient communities.  

Thank you for your commitment to the community care hub and the health and prosperity of our state. 

Sincerely,  
[your name and contact information]

Last year, we introduced a bill in the Minnesota legislature that would fund an expanded community care hub in Minnesota for years to come. Community care hubs bridge the gap between healthcare and social services to create the best possible community health outcomes. Though we were successful in receiving a small planning grant, we fell short of obtaining a large investment in this vision.  
 
We are returning to the Capitol this year with more supporters and greater momentum than ever before. Please watch the video below for an update about this legislation and how you can get involved with the effort to expand the Juniper Community Care Hub. 

Your support for this legislation is critical. Please contact your state legislators and voice your support for the community care hub. Tell them about the work you do to support your neighbors and let them know you’re ready to do more through healthcare partnerships. Share the hub concept and what it would mean for your organization and community. 
 
We will continue to keep you updated about the progress of the bill as it moves through the legislative process. Please be watching for additional messages asking for your support for this important legislation. 
 
Together, we’re building a stronger and more connected future for the people we serve.

Find your local state legislators here.  

A class leader with participants in a Tai Ji Quan class.

Understanding community care hubs

At its core, a community care hub is a community-focused entity that centralizes administrative supports for a network of community-based organizations offering social services intended to improve health outcomes. By centralizing functions such as healthcare billing, compliance, technology applications, marketing, business development, network recruitment and management, and analytics, we can ensure that we are maximizing value that is only possible by bringing a network together, rather than approaching the work individually. The Partnership to Align Social Care published a guide that lists these functions and their related standards.

Community care hubs allow community-based and healthcare organizations to work in tandem to address health-related social needs, fostering a more holistic approach to care beyond traditional medical interventions. The Juniper community care hub, spearheaded by Trellis in Minnesota, has become a national model by integrating social care with healthcare to provide tailored services that meet local needs, leveraging trusted relationships with local community and healthcare organizations, and driving value for patients, healthcare providers, health insurers and public organizations.

Read more here
Minnesota State Capitol Building

 

Juniper Year in Review

Cover of White Paper-Older Adult Needs Survey

Trellis surveyed older adults to understand their awareness of and willingness to use services and supports that would help them remain safely in their homes and communities. The survey also covered their use of technology and which resources of health information they trusted, to better understand and serve older adults.

Trellis embarked on this important research because it aligns with its mission and every-day work: to help older adults optimize well-being as they age. Survey respondents were past participants of Juniper evidence-based health promotion classes.

It’s not news that most older Americans want to age in place. A 2021 “Home and Community Preferences Survey” conducted by AARP finds that “Data shows that 77 percent of adults 50 and older want to remain in their homes for the long term — a number that has been consistent for more than a decade.” [https://www.aarp.org/home-family/your-home/info-2021/home-and-community-preferences-survey.html#:~:text=%EF%BB%BF%22%20Data%20%EF%BB%BFshows%20that,for%20more%20than%20a%20decade.]

Yet to remain in their own homes, many older adults will need both clinical and non-clinical help and support. However, very few older adults can afford to pay out of pocket for much-needed home and community-based services. Those who can’t afford these fees must go without, depend on a family caregiver or navigate a fragmented system of services.

This is supported by a 2020 research report by AARP (4), which finds that almost 42 million Americans are caring for an adult 50 years of age or older – a 22% increase from 2015. And notably, about one in 4 of these caregivers said, “it is difficult to get affordable services in their recipient’s area (27 percent).” [4 https://www.aarp.org/ppi/info-2020/caregiving-in-the-united-states.html}

Goal of the Survey

The goal of the survey was to learn:

  1. What services and supports older adults feel they need to live independently in their own homes.
  2. Awareness of, and willingness to use, the available home and community-based services if they needed them.
  3. How they would obtain those services if they needed them (without reference to payment or reimbursement)
  4. The likelihood of them using those services — if they were available through their health plan — and how that availability would influence their choice of health plans.

The survey results indicate that older adults value home and community-based services, such as transportation, chores, indoor and outdoor home maintenance, homemaking services and more. Most respondents indicated they would be motivated to choose health plan coverage that pays for these types of services.

Dawn Simonson, president and CEO of Trellis, said the results of the survey shed light on older adults’ needs now and into the future. She noted: “We believe information from the survey could help healthcare and community-based organizations and other stakeholders better tailor future benefits and services they offer to their members, patients and communities they serve.”

Survey Findings

Responses to the survey questions showed that:

Seventy-five percent of respondents said that having non-clinical services and supports available to them would affect their health plan enrollment decisions.

Technology Use and Trusted Sources of Health Information

Survey responses indicate that concerns about inaccessibility to technology for communication purposes among older adults may be overstated, as respondents said they regularly use many devices and are comfortable using smartphones, land lines, tablets, notebooks and laptops.

When it comes to health-related information, respondents trust only three sources to any substantial degree: overwhelmingly, “physician or other healthcare provider” (91%), followed by “family or friends” (43%) and health plan mailed information” (39%). This data reinforces the important role that healthcare providers and healthcare plans have in fostering whole-person care for older adults.

Read the White Paper: [link to where the survey document is on the website]