Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare Plans Top-Ranked Again

South San Francisco, CA   September 18, 2014  Submitted by Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente Medicare plans hold top three spots in rankings; All Kaiser Permanente Medicare and Private plans are highest-ranked in the markets they serve

 “I’m here because Kaiser Permanente cares.”

Those are the words of Susan Mahler, a San Diego, Calif., heart transplant recipient and Kaiser Permanente member since 1967. Susan was in her late 50s when she began suffering from serious valve deterioration and it was determined she needed heart replacement surgery, which she eventually received. After years of being in and out of the hospital, Susan is back doing “everything I can possibly do within the course of a day. I wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t be doing anything if it wasn’t for Kaiser Permanente.”

Susan’s story of the excellent clinical and personal care she received at Kaiser Permanente is a common one. Kaiser Permanente health plans are the best in the nation for the fourth year in a row, according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance report ­— NCQA’s Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2014-15 — which was published today. NCQA’s annual report ranks health plans­ — Medicare, Medicaid and Private (Commercial) — in three categories: customer experience, prevention, and treatment. In addition, all Kaiser Permanente plans rank highest in both Medicare and Commercial in the regions or states they serve.

In the NCQA study, all seven Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plans are in the Top 10 out of more than 408 Medicare plans ranked by NCQA and are all above the 97^th percentile. Kaiser Permanente Southern California is top-ranked Medicare health plan in the nation for the third year in a row.

For the second year in a row, Kaiser Permanente Medicare plans hold the top three spots in the annual national rankings. Kaiser Permanente Northern California is No.2, followed by Kaiser Permanente Northwest.

In the Commercial rankings, Kaiser Permanente has three plans among the top 10 nationally for the second year in a row, including the fifth-highest ranked plan in the U.S., Kaiser Permanente Northwest. Also in the Top 10 are Kaiser Permanente Southern California (No.7) and Northern California (No. 8). All seven Kaiser Permanente Commercial plans are among the top 30 plans out of 507 plans ranked and all are above the 94^th percentile.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii is also No. 6-ranked Medicaid plan in the nation.

Now in its ninth year, the “NCQA’s Health Insurance Plan Rankings” is based on combined scores for health plans in Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set®, commonly called HEDIS; the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems®, or CAHPS; and NCQA Accreditation standards scores. Consumers and employers assess plans prior to annual enrollment periods.

In the Medicare category, with 408 plans nationally ranked, Kaiser Permanente had the following rankings:

• Kaiser Permanente Southern California — 1st
• Kaiser Permanente Northern California — 2nd
• Kaiser Permanente Northwest — 3rd
• Kaiser Permanente Hawaii — 5^th
• Kaiser Permanente Colorado — 6th
• Kaiser Permanente Georgia – 8th
• Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States — 9th

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii was the only Kaiser Permanente plan eligible for the Medicaid rankings. The Hawaii plan ranked sixth in the nation out of 136 plans. Other Kaiser Permanente regions are not required to report data on the full set of measures used to calculate Medicaid rankings and were therefore unranked in this category.

Out of 507 nationally ranked Commercial plans, Kaiser Permanente had the following rankings:

• Kaiser Permanente Northwest — 5th
• Kaiser Permanente Southern California — 7th
• Kaiser Permanente Northern California — 8th
• Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States — 13th
• Kaiser Permanente Hawaii — 18^th
• Kaiser Permanente Georgia — 19th
• Kaiser Permanente Colorado — 29th

The rankings and methodology are posted on the NCQA’s website at www.ncqa.org and on the Consumer Reports website. The rankings and an article about health plans will appear in the November issue of Consumer Reports magazine.