NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Humana announced today that Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana has been awarded a three-year Excellent Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its commercial and Medicare HMO plans.
"This accomplishment demonstrates Humana's commitment to providing its members with services that are measured against some of the toughest standards in the industry," said Hassan Rifaat, M.D., president of Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana. "The NCQA Excellent Accreditation is also a reflection of the tremendous work on the part of the network of physicians who take care of numerous health needs for our members from preventive services to treatment of chronic conditions," said Dr. Rifaat.
Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana is the only health plan in Louisiana twice in a row to be awarded the Excellent Accreditation from NCQA. "Excellent" is the highest accreditation awarded by NCQA, an independent, not- for-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America's health care.
Humana's Louisiana commercial and Medicare HMO plans were evaluated on the following parameters: access and service, qualified providers, staying healthy, getting better and living with illness.
NCQA is a nationally recognized, independent organization that reviews and accredits managed health care organizations around the country. It is the leading external review organization for the managed care industry and its accreditation is designed to help employers and consumers distinguish between health plans based on quality. NCQA's requirements -- developed with the input and support of employers, unions, health plans and consumers -- are demanding, according to NCQA, which has purposely set the standards high to encourage health plans to continuously enhance their quality.
About Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana, Inc.
Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana is one of the largest health benefit plans in the New Orleans market and the third largest in the state of Louisiana with approximately 152,000 commercial medical members, primarily in large group accounts, and approximately 31,000 members in the Medicare Advantage program. Humana is licensed in all 64 of Louisiana's parishes.
Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana offers traditional health plans including HMOs and PPOs, its consumer choice offering of SmartSuite and its Medicare HMO. The company recently launched SmartExpress, a family of health insurance plans designed for businesses with 2 to 299 employees that want to better control and predict health care costs while giving their employees expanded benefits and a better health plan experience.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation's largest publicly traded health benefits companies, with approximately 7 million medical members located primarily in 15 states and Puerto Rico. Humana offers a diversified portfolio of health insurance products and related services -- through traditional and consumer-choice plans -- to employer groups, government-sponsored plans, and individuals.
Over its 43-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's web site at http://www.humana.com/ , including copies of:
* Annual report to stockholders;
* Securities and Exchange Commission filings;
* Most recent investor conference presentation;
* Quarterly earnings press releases (including detailed description of
unusual items, where applicable);
* Audio archive of most recent earnings release conference call;
* Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates,
times, and access number, as well as planned interaction with
institutional investors);
* Corporate Governance Information.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030425/HUMANALOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comHumana Inc.CONTACT: Ross McLerran, Humana Corporate Communications,+1-210-617-1771, or rmclerran@humana.com
Web site: http://www.humana.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/423125.html