Kaiser Health Plans Earn Highest State Rating

Kaiser Permanente Hawai‘i. Courtesy photo

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent healthcare quality assurance organization, has rated Kaiser Permanente’s health plans the highest in the state of Hawai‘i.

The NCQA Commercial, Medicare and Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2019–2020 is a five-point rating system based on patient experience, treatment outcomes and prevention efforts designed to provide information to help consumers choose their health plan during year-end open enrollment.

Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial (private) plans each received a 4.5 out of 5 stars, the highest score in Hawai‘i. This is the 15th consecutive year that Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare and Medicaid plans were recognized as No. 1 in Hawai‘i, and the 12th year its commercial plan has received top marks in the state, according to a Kaiser press release.

“Providing excellent treatment, preventive care and patient experiences are top priorities at Kaiser Permanente, where everything we do is centered around our members,” said Dave Underriner, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, Hawai‘i Region.

The NCQA Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2019–2020 are based on combined scores of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDISÒ), the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPSÒ) and NCQA Accreditation standard scores. The new rating methodology, implemented in 2016, classifies plans into scores from 1 to 5 in 0.5 increments based on consumer experience, preventive measures and treatment outcomes, in a system similar to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ 5-Star Quality Rating System.

Complete results are available at www.ncqa.org.