Network Health rated among “America’s Best Health Plans”

Menasha health plan ranks 31st in nation by U.S. News & World Report

December 3, 2008

Menasha, Wis. – For the fourth consecutive year, Network Health has earned national recognition by U.S News & World Report and National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), and is listed 31st in the 2008-09 America’s Best Health Plan, which is up from 37th in 2007.

The results are released today at www.usnews.com/healthplans and will be featured in next week’s issue of U.S. News & World Report, which will be on newsstands Monday, Nov. 10.

“This ranking is evidence of the continuous effort Network Health is making to provide the best plans along with the quality health care to back it up,” President of Network Health, Sheila Jenkins said. “We are honored to be a part of the ranking and proud of our continued improvement.”

Network Health’s ranking is based on clinical quality, member satisfaction and NCQA Accreditation scores.

“We are constantly striving to provide the exceptional care that our members have come to expect and this type of recognition demonstrates the commitment of our employees and providers to deliver on that promise,” Jenkins said.

 NCQA is an independent, non-profit organization that assesses and reports on the quality of the nation’s managed care plans. The following categories were used to report data:

Consumer Experience: Measures about consumer experience with getting care, as well as satisfaction with plan physicians and with health plan services.

Prevention: Measures of how often preventive services are provided (e.g., childhood and adolescent immunizations, women’s reproductive health and cancer screenings), as well as measures of children and adolescents access to primary and preventive visits.

Treatment: Measures of how well health plans take care of people who have health problems, such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, alcohol and drug dependence, mental illness and whether physicians advised smokers to quit.

The print issue of U.S. News & World Report will list the top 50 commercial health plans. Full rankings will be available online at www.usnews.com.

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Network Health has offered customized commercial and Medicare health insurance services to area employers, individuals and families since 1982, and through its strong reputation for providing quality health care coverage and excellent customer service has grown to serve thousands of people in Northeast Wisconsin and beyond. Each year since 2002, Network Health has received the highest possible "Excellent" accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its commercial HMO insurance plans, and annually since 2004 it has been ranked in the Top 50 Health Insurance Plans in U.S. News and World Report's NCQA Best Health Plans in America listing.