LOS ANGELES – L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan, announced today that it has been awarded an Accreditation status of “Excellent” from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent, non-profit organization that assesses and reports on the quality of the nation’s managed care plans. L.A. Care’s “Excellent” Accreditation status -- the highest possible level -- is based on a voluntary review of how the health plan ensures that its members are receiving high quality care.
“NCQA’s Excellent Accreditation status is reserved for the best health plans in the nation,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, President of NCQA. “It is only awarded to those plans that meet or exceed NCQQ’s rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement and deliver excellent clinical care.”
The NCQA Accreditation process evaluates how well a health plan manages quality throughout every part of its delivery system -- physicians, hospitals, affiliated providers, and administrative services -- to continuously improve health care for its members.
More than three-quarters of Americans enrolled in HMOs are in plans that have been reviewed by NCQA and many employers are now mandating accreditation of the plans they offer their employees. No comparable evaluation exists for fee-for-service health care.
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