January 19, 2005

Three Michigan Medicaid HMOs were recently listed as top ten plans in the nation by the widely respected National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA), state officials said today.

HealthPlus Partners (Flint), M-CAID (Ann Arbor) and Priority Health Government Programs, Inc. (Grand Rapids) were ranked as superior HMOs for their extraordinary commitment to public health.

Highlighted in a national press release from the NCQA was Michigan’s important strategic approach that requires public accountability of performance scores and incentives to plans that perform at benchmark levels set by the state for Medicaid HMOs.

“It is extremely refreshing to witness tangible recognition of the hard work and dedication that the state of Michigan, the MDCH and Governor Jennifer M. Granholm have put into improving our Medicaid program,” said Janet Olszewski, MDCH Director. “In a time when stringent budget considerations means looking for the best value possible in every dollar, Michigan’s Medicaid plans deliver top performance with major cost savings to the state of $400 million in 2004.”

The growing availability of data from managed care organizations can help Michigan’s Medicaid members make more informed health plan choices. The traditional fee-for-service system offers no such data.

The NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. NCQA provides health care quality information free-of-charge through the web and media in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.