Northern California e-news

Kaiser Permanente receives top ratings for Medicare

Did you know that you belong to an award-winning health plan? Kaiser Permanente received an overall 2012 rating of 5 stars -- the highest possible -- from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for our Medicare health plans in the California, Oregon/Washington, Hawaii, and Colorado regions.* Our Georgia, Ohio, and Mid-Atlantic States (Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.) regions received 4.5 stars. 

 “Our members don’t just want great health care, they want to live long, healthy lives,” says Amy Compton-Phillips, MD, our associate executive director for quality at The Permanente Federation. “Our excellent ratings reflect our success in helping them achieve that.”

Dr. Compton-Phillips adds that Kaiser Permanente is a mission-driven organization focused on providing affordable, high-quality health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. “Since our inception, we have focused on keeping people healthy, restoring them to health when they need to be, and taking excellent care of those with ongoing conditions,” she says. “We’ve built a care system around the needs of our members.”

What is the Medicare Star Quality Rating System?
The Star system was developed by CMS to give seniors an easy way to evaluate their health care options.

What do the ratings measure?
The Star ratings evaluate Medicare health plans based on more than 50 performance measures in categories. These include staying healthy, managing chronic conditions, member satisfaction, customer service, and pharmacy services.

How can you learn more?
You, a parent, or friend can learn more about the Medicare Star Quality Ratings and Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare health plans or get information at the federal Medicare website.** You can also get tips on healthy aging online.

* Plan performance summary star ratings are assessed each year and may change from one year to the next. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Plan Management System, Plan Ratings 2012. Kaiser Permanente Contract #H0524.

** Kaiser Permanente is not responsible for the content or policies of external websites.

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More recognition

Kaiser Permanente commercial plans in six regions ranked among the top 50 plans in the nation. This comes from the National Committee on Quality Assurance Private Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011–12 — Private. And all eight of our Medicare plans were ranked among the top 40 plans in the nation in NCQA’s Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011–12 — Medicare. In fact, our Northern California, Southern California, Colorado, and Northwest Medicare plans were ranked as the top four plans in the nation, respectively.

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