Two AmeriHealth Mercy Affiliates Featured in National Report for their Innovative Service to Medicaid Managed Care Beneficiaries
March 16, 2005 - Philadelphia (PA) - A new
report from America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Innovations
in Medicaid Managed Care, shows how two AmeriHealth Mercy affiliates,
Keystone
Mercy Health Plan in Philadelphia, and Passport
Health Plan in Louisville, Kentucky, are successfully serving
Medicaid beneficiaries. According to the report, Keystone
Mercy and Passport
Health Plan achieve improvements in health care and deliver
cost savings for their states through their innovative programs
targeted to the health needs of the people they serve.
Daniel J. Hilferty, President and CEO of AmeriHealth Mercy, said that reduced regulatory burdens and sufficient funding coupled with the replication of successful programs and continued innovation in the private sector can help Pennsylvania's and Kentucky's government to better serve Medicaid beneficiaries. "Managed care works for Medicaid," added Hilferty.
Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of AHIP, said that health plans have played an important role for state governments and Medicaid beneficiaries. "Keystone Mercy and Passport Heath Plan have designed programs that work for Medicaid beneficiaries and for the state governments they serve," Ignagni said. "These successful programs, outlined in our report, demonstrate quality improvement, cost containment and an understanding of the populations they serve in Medicaid."
Among the featured initiatives highlighted in the report were Keystone Mercy's Healthy HoopsSM, an asthma management program; Health Ministry Program for Women, a preventive health education program for women of all ages; and Sickle Cell Disease Management Program; and Passport Health Plan's Mommy & Me Program, a prenatal, infant and maternal health care program; Case Management for Adults with Disabilities, a care coordination initiative; Tiny Tot Transition Program, a program to ease the transition home for newborns with serious health conditions; Cultural and Linguistic Services, a program designed to break down the cultural and linguistic barriers to health care that many members face; the "Screen Team," a health screening program for children to increase EPSDT (well child visits) rates; a diabetes management program; and an asthma management program.
With more than 20 years of experience exclusively serving the Medicaid population, the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies and its affiliates comprise the largest family of Medicaid managed care plans in the United States, touching the lives of more than 1.5 million members in eight states, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, California, Arizona and Indiana. For more information, please visit AmeriHealth Mercy.
In the past decade, state and federal lawmakers have increasingly recognized the value of managed care to the Medicaid program's long-term stability and sustainability. As of June 2003, according to data compiled by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), about 39% of the 42 million Medicaid participants were enrolled in health insurance plans providing comprehensive health care services, and another 20% were covered by less comprehensive versions of managed care. Meanwhile the fee-for-service system, although covering less than half of the total Medicaid population, accounted for more than 80% of all Medicaid spending.
To review the report, please go to: http://www.ahipresearch.org/pdfs/InvMedicaidMCare05.pdf |
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