Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Continues Medicare + Choice for Seventh Straight Year in Eight County Service Area.Business Editors ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 10, 2002 Senior Platinum Product recently awarded NCQA NCQA National Committee on Quality Assurance, see there Excellent accreditation Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGA), the Georgia operating subsidiary of WellPoint Health Network Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :WLP) today announced its decision, effective for the calendar year 2003, to continue serving its Platinum members through Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthcare Plan of Georgia's Medicare + Choice product. "At Blue Cross Blue Shield, we are focused on our customers and their health care needs," said David Fields, General Manager for Consumer Services. "It is important to offer choice to our seniors as they choose their preferred Medicare benefits for their financial service and medical care." In August, the National Committee for Quality Assurance National Committee for Quality Assurance Medical practice A private, not-for-profit organization which has become the leading accreditor of managed care plans; in site visits, NCQA reviewers evaluate a managed care plan in terms of quality management, physicians' (NCQA) awarded Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Care Plan its highest accreditation status of Excellent for service and clinical quality that meets or exceeds NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement. This recognition is based on the Plan's recent 2002 HEDIS HEDIS Health Plan Employer Data & Information Set Managed care An initiative by the National Committee on Quality Assurance to develop, collect, standardize, and report measures of health plan performances. (c) (Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set The Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is a widely used set of performance measures in the managed care industry, developed and maintained by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. ) report. Margaret E. O'Kane, NCQA President, stated, "Earning an Excellent Accreditation reflects a health plan's ability to work with their members and physicians to improve the quality of clinical care." In making the decision to remain in the Platinum product, Fields noted, "The Platinum premium for our two products, the high and low option, will remain the same for 2003. In addition, in January we will introduce the new 'SilverSneakers' Fitness Program to promote physical and social activities designed specifically for our seniors." The health plan's Platinum membership was approximately 19,500 as of June 30, 2002 in its eight county service area (Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Henry and Gwinnett). The decision and its product offering is subject to final approval from CMS (1) See content management system and color management system. (2) (Conversational Monitor System) Software that provides interactive communications for IBM's VM operating system. (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Medicare and Medicaid U.S. government programs in effect since 1966. Medicare covers most people 65 or older and those with long-term disabilities. Part A, a hospital insurance plan, also pays for home health visits and hospice care. Services). HEDIS(c) is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGA) serves more than 2.1 million medical members and is the oldest and largest health benefits company in Georgia. BCBSGA is an operating subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks Inc., one of the nation's largest publicly traded health care companies serving the health care needs of more than 13 million medical members and approximately 45 million specialty members nationally. WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including open access PPO PPO abbr. preferred provider organization PPO Managed care Preferred provider organization, see there Infectious disease Pleuropneumonia-like organism, see there , POS and hybrid products, HMO and specialty products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management A Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) is a third party administrator of prescription drug programs. They are primarily responsible for processing and paying prescription drug claims. , dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration, and Medicare supplements. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia may be found on the web at www.bcbsga.com. |
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