Preferred Medical Plan Expands Medicaid Coverage to Monroe County

Preferred Medical Plan, the oldest Medicaid managed care plan in Florida,announced today that it hasexpanded its Medicaid coverage to include eligible residents ofMonroe County. Theexpansion comes after an 18-month process ofbuilding a comprehensive network ofMonroe Countycareprovidersto comply with Medicaid access requirements.

One ofjusttwoMedicaidplansactivein the rural county, Preferred Medical Plan(www.pmphmo.com)worked closely with the Keys Physician-Hospital Alliance(KPHA), Lower Keys Medical Center(LKMC)and Fishermans Hospital to builditsnetwork.

Preferred Medical Planhas been serving Floridas Medicaid population since the early 1990sand isthe oldest Medicaid managed care plan in the state. It has made a priority of servingthose eligible forMedicaidand, through its individual commercial line of business,lower and middle incomeresidents.It also is one of the largestHealthFlexproduct providers in the state.

PreferredMedical Plan currently serves Medicaid members in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties.ItsMedicaid managed care productin Monroe Countywent live on April 1, 2013, and iscurrently enrolling members.

We are proud tobring the many advantages ofMedicaid managed care to Monroe County.This expansion is part of our 40-year commitment to providing residents of South Florida with access to health care, said Tamara Meyerson, President and CEO,Preferred Medical Plan.

In preparation forits expansion,Preferred Medical Plan developed some innovative approaches to serving Monroe County Medicaid recipients, including:

-         Non-emergency transportation services to ensure access to providers within the Keys as well as in Miami-Dade County.

-         Specialist access throughprovider partners in Monroe County and Miami-Dade County, with additionalaccess initiativesto be announcedin the near future.

-         Intensive in-servicing of provider offices to help providers understand Medicaid managed care.

-         Working withitslocal providers as well as behavioral health vendor to ensure access to behavioral health services.

-         Easy access to lab and blood work thoughits laboratory subcontractor, Quest Diagnostics, andnetworkproviders.

-         Auser-friendlyMemberResource Guide designedspecificallyfor Monroe County residents unfamiliar with managed care.

We are very thankful to our provider partners who are helping us bring expanded health benefits to Monroe. We are dedicated to doing everything we can to serve our members in Monroe County and meet their health care needs, added Ms. Meyerson.

About Preferred Medical Plan, Inc.

Preferred Medical Plan(www.pmphmo.com)is celebrating 40 years in the managed care business. It is the oldest independently owned and licensed managed care organization inFloridaand today servesmore than40,000 members in Medicaid managed care, MedicareAdvantage and commercial lines of business. It is one of the largest issuers of individualHMOcoverage in South Florida and the state as a whole, and anticipatesrobust growth in its commercial line of business with the introduction of the Health Insurance Marketplace (Exchange) later this year.

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