Press Releases: 2008

Passport Health Plan recognized in U.S. News & World Report

Passport Health Plan #9 in the Top Medicaid 'America's Best Health Plans 2008-09'

Passport Health Plan is ranked #9 of all Medicaid Health Plans in the country based on clinical quality, member satisfaction, and National Committee for Quality Assurance accreditation scores. This is the fourth year in a row for Passport Health Plan to rank in the top 25, now moving into the top 10. The health plan will be featured in the November 17-24 issue of "U.S. News and World Report".

University Health Care, Inc., which does business as Passport Health Plan, contracts with the Commonwealth of Kentucky to provide Medicaid benefits to 148,000 Kentuckians. Governor Steve Beshear said, "The Commonwealth's partnership with Passport Health Plan over the past 10 years has been extremely successful by improving health outcomes and by controlling costs in the Medicaid program. I congratulate Dr. Larry Cook and the Passport team for this well-deserved recognition. Keeping kids healthy by encouraging well child checkups and immunizations is critical to our future and I look forward to helping children access Passport Health Plan's services through the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program."

"We are pleased to be recognized as the best of the best in these rankings. We have worked hard to improve health and quality of life for our members by offering innovative programs in disease management, pharmacy management, case management, and member education. Obviously, these programs are working," said Dr. Larry N. Cook, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board for University Health Care, Inc.

"America's Best Health Plans is a practical tool that helps consumers make informed decisions when choosing a health plan," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "It lets consumers know which plans have demonstrated they can deliver the highest levels of care and service."

University Health Care, Inc., dba Passport Health Plan, provides Medicaid managed care services for over 148,000 members in Jefferson and the 15 surrounding counties. The counties of service include Breckinridge, Bullitt, Carroll, Grayson, Hardin, Henry, Jefferson, Larue, Marion, Meade, Nelson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble, and Washington. Passport Health Plan is sponsored by the University of Louisville Medical School Practice Association, University of Louisville Hospital, Jewish and St. Mary’s Healthcare, Norton Healthcare, and the Louisville/Jefferson County Primary Care Association, which includes the Jefferson County Health Department and Louisville's two federally qualified health centers, Family Health Centers and Park DuValle.

University Health Care, Inc. contracts with AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan for administrative services. The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies is a mission driven organization dedicated to ensuring the delivery of quality health care to low-income populations covered by publicly-funded programs throughout the United States. AmeriHealth Mercy and its affiliates comprise the largest family of Medicaid managed care plans in the United States, touching the lives of over 6.2 million members nationwide. AmeriHealth Mercy employs over 2,000 people nationally, including 225 employees in Passport's Louisville office. For more information, please visit www.passporthealthplan.com.

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, recognizes physicians and physician groups in key clinical areas and manages the evolution of HEDIS®, the tool the nation's health plans use to measure and report on their performance. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

NCQA and U.S. News & World Report ranked 239 commercial, 80 Medicaid and 150 Medicare health plans based on a combination of clinical performance, member satisfaction and NCQA Accreditation status.

This collaborative study ranked the nation's commercial Medicare and Medicaid health plans based on access to care (member's ability to get needed care, quickly, health plan customer service), overall member satisfaction, prevention services (health screenings, prenatal care, childhood and adolescent immunizations, avoiding antibiotic overuse and well-child visits), treatment (how well the plan takes care of ongoing health problems), and overall quality score (a combination of the scores from the four main categories above and NCQA accreditation). "America's Best Health Plans" is a trademark of U.S. News & World Report.