HealthAmerica Pennsylvania and HealthAmerica Advantra Rank among America’s Top 20 Health Plans According to U.S.News & World Report/NCQA…

HealthAmerica Pennsylvania and HealthAmerica Advantra Rank among America's Top 20 Health Plans According to U.S.News & World Report/NCQA "America's Best Health Insurance Plans 2009-10" List

HealthAmerica's HMO and POS were ranked among the nation's top 20 best commercial and Medicare health plans according to a joint ranking by U.S.News & World Report and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Nationally, HealthAmerica Pennsylvania was ranked 17th among 239 commercial plans; HealthAmerica's Medicare Advantage plan, Advantra, ranked 20th out of 166 Medicare plans.

HealthAmerica and HealthAmerica Advantra have ranked as one of the top 50 best health plans in the U.S.News/NCQA "America's Best Health Insurance Plans" list* every year since 2005.

"We are honored to be recognized among the best health plans in the nation," said Timothy E. Nolan, president of HealthAmerica. "All of us at HealthAmerica work hard to improve the health and quality of life for our members by offering innovative programs in disease management, pharmacy management, case management, and wellness. Achieving these rankings reflects the strong collaborative effort HealthAmerica has with its providers. Every employee and provider associated with HealthAmerica should be proud of this recognition."

The National Committee for Quality Assurance and U.S.News & World Report collaborate to rank the nation's best commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid health insurance plans. The ranking appeared in the November 16 issue of U.S.News and on its website (www.usnews.com/healthplans).

Health care plans were ranked in four areas: NCQA accreditation, overall member satisfaction, and delivery of preventive services and treatment, with members being asked to rate their satisfaction with each area. For the fifth consecutive year, HealthAmerica has been ranked and listed as one of the best health plans in the country.

HealthAmerica's and Advantra's rankings are based on their Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®)* 2009 scores and the results of a Consumer Assessment of Healthcare and Provider Systems (CAHPS) survey of members. HEDIS is a set of standardized performance measures covering effectiveness of care, preventive care, treatment, and customer satisfaction. CAHPS is a standardized survey in which members rate the quality of care and service that they receive from doctors, specialists, office staffs, and insurers.

In these ratings, HealthAmerica's commercial health plans were rated higher than the national average in all 15 key measures of medical services and member satisfaction and higher than the Pennsylvania state average in 12 of the 15 key measures.