NCQA Awards Universal Care Excellent Accreditation For Its Commercial HMO

Ranks It in the Top 10% of the Nation

NEW YORK, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- HIP Health Plan of New York is proud to announce that the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has upgraded the accreditation status for its Medicaid HMO to "Excellent."

In addition, HIP's clinical performance for its Medicaid HMO in the areas of diabetes, heart disease and mental health care was rated in the top 10% of all plans in the nation and the asthma care in the top 25% of all health plans in the region (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands).

At the same time, NCQA rated HIP "Commendable" for the third consecutive time for its commercial and Medicare lines of business. HIP is the largest Medicare insurer in New York State. The news about HIP was contained in the Health Plan Report Card issued by the NCQA.

"Achieving an accreditation status of Excellent is a significant achievement for a health plan," said Margaret E. O'Kane, president of NCQA. "It is only awarded to those plans that both meet or exceed NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement and have HEDIS results in the highest range of national performance."

Anthony L. Watson, Chairman and CEO of HIP, said: "There is nothing more gratifying than having an assessment of our work in health care reflect the care and effort we put into it. We are especially proud that our Medicaid HMO program providing medical assistance for individuals and families with limited incomes and resources are judged by the NCQA to be Excellent and that our commercial and Medicare lines of business remain Commendable."

NCQA ranked HIP's Medicaid HMO among the top 10% of plans in the nation based on the following clinical performance measures for chronic health conditions:

Diabetes: comprehensive eye exams, blood glucose testing, monitoring for diabetic kidney disease and cholesterol screening.

Heart Disease: cholesterol management after an acute cardiovascular event (cholesterol screening rate) and controlling high blood pressure.

Mental Health: antidepressant medication management (effective acute phase treatment, effective continuation of phase treatment, optimal practitioner contacts for medication management) and follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness.

And NCQA ranked HIP's Medicaid HMO among the top 25% plans in the region for the clinical performance measure for asthma, use of appropriate medications for people with asthma.

Accreditation status ratings are defined by NCQA as follows:

Excellent: Achieving NCQA's "Excellent" Accreditation status, NCQA's highest accreditation level, is a significant achievement. It is only awarded to those plans that meet or exceed NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement and have HEDIS results in the highest range of national performance.

Commendable: Achieving an accreditation status of "Commendable" is a notable achievement. It is awarded to plans whose service and clinical quality meet or exceed NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement.

HIP Profile

HIP Health Plan of New York is the largest HMO in New York City based on membership. HIP provides access to physician services and hospital care in a variety of ways. We contract with more than 160 hospitals, including major acute care institutions, in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts to provide member services.

Our members have access to HIP contracted doctors practicing in large multi-specialty outpatient medical centers and outpatient medical centers associated with some of New York's leading hospitals, including Beth Israel Medical Center, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, St. Barnabas Hospital, Lenox Hill Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center, as well as private physicians practicing in their own offices. HIP's total network of physicians and other providers, including the networks of our subsidiaries, comprises more than 41,000 physicians and other providers in over 61,000 locations in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

HIP acquired ConnectiCare, one of the largest health plans in Connecticut, in 2005 and Vytra Health Plans in 2001. We also entered into an acquisition agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, in 2005 with PerfectHealth Insurance Company, a provider of high deductible health insurance policies in the New York market. Our total membership is approximately 1.4 million. For more information about HIP, please visit our Web site, http://www.hipusa.com. It is available in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.

HIP Health Plan of New York

CONTACT: Ron Maiorana, SVP Public Affairs, HIP Health Plan of New York,+1-646-447-6269, rmaiorana@hipusa.com

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