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The Central Florida YMCA got a $1.7 million grant today from the UnitedHealth Foundation. It will fund a three-year pilot program called HealthierLifeRX.

Those enrolled will spend 12 months working with a doctor and a personalized health and lifestyle coach to achieve health care goals. Florida Rep. Jason Brodeur said if the program is successful, he’d like to see it replicated in Medicaid.

“More than half of the costs of that program (Medicaid) are associated with less than 5 percent of the member enrollees,” Brodeur said. “If we could get a coach for those 5 percent like we have here, I think the cost savings and health outcomes could be dramatic.”

The HealthierLifeRX program is in partnership with Orlando Health and Florida Hospital. Funding will continue for the next three years.

WMFE is a partner with Health News Florida, a statewide collaborative reporting on health care.

Health reporting on WMFE is supported in part by AdventHealth.