First Choice by Select Health earns Top Quality Rating among South Carolina Medicaid Plans

First Choice by Select Health of South Carolina is the top-rated Medicaid health plan in the state, according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA’s) Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2015-2016, and has been since 2010. Select Health, the state’s first and largest Medicaid managed care organization and a member of the AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies, offers the First Choice Medicaid health plan statewide and the First Choice VIP Care Plus Medicare-Medicaid Plan in 38 counties. Select Health is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year.

“This top rating reaffirms our commitment to excellence and the high quality of care we strive to offer our 325,000 First Choice Medicaid members across South Carolina, as well as their overall satisfaction with our health plan,” said Rebecca Engelman, market president at Select Health. “The NCQA ratings system is the gold standard for measuring national health insurance plan ratings because of its rigorous process and increasingly demanding standards. We’re very proud to have achieved this accomplishment through a collaborative effort from our associates, providers and community partners.”

First Choice earned its top rating based on strong results from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®), a tool that measures performance on important dimensions of care and service, as well as the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, which measures member satisfaction with their overall health care experience.

“We focus on promoting health education, prevention and wellness for our members as well as care management programs for those who are pregnant or have chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes and heart failure,” said Faleshia Jones, director of quality at Select Health. “We know the importance of engaging, educating and empowering our members to be actively involved in their health care, which  has been shown to not only improve health, but overall quality of life.”

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes clinicians in key clinical areas. NCQA’s HEDIS is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA’s Web site (www.ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices. View the NCQA Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2015-2016 South Carolina Medicaid Summary Report.

Select Health of South Carolina Mission:

To help people get care, stay well and build healthy communities.

ABOUT SELECT HEALTH

Select Health of South Carolina is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015, which demonstrates our strength, stability and expertise in providing access to high quality health care for South Carolinians. Incorporated in 1995, Select Health was licensed as a Health Maintenance Organization by the South Carolina Department of Insurance in 1996. Later that year, the company contracted with the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to offer First Choice, which is now the state’s oldest and largest health plan for Healthy Connections, South Carolina’s Medicaid program, serving members in all 46 counties statewide.

First Choice by Select Health of South Carolina is the top-rated Medicaid health plan in South Carolina, according to the NCQA’s Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2015-2016, and has been since 2010. (The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS) uses other criteria for evaluating and ranking the performance of health plans serving Medicaid beneficiaries.) Select Health is the only health plan in South Carolina to hold NCQA’s Multicultural Health Care Distinction.

Select Health also offers the First Choice VIP Care Plus Medicare-Medicaid Plan in 38 counties of South Carolina and is a wholly-owned member of the AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies.