Delaware Physicians Care Named One of Top Medicaid Plans In the Nation by U.S. News & World Report/ NCQA

For the second year in a row, Delaware Physicians Care has been selected as one of the top 25 Medicaid Plans out of hundreds in the nation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and U.S. News & World Report magazine. The ranking is based on clinical quality, member satisfaction and NCQA accreditation scores.

The 2009-10 America’s Best Health Insurance Plans rankings are available online now at www.usnews.com/healthplans, and will be featured in the December issue of the magazine, available on newsstands Dec. 1. America’s Best Health Insurance Plans is a trademark of U.S. News & World Report.

Delaware Physicians Care is ranked 20th in the country and is the only Delaware Medicaid plan in the top 25 list.

“We’re very proud to have been ranked so highly two years in a row,” said Robert White, chief executive officer of the health plan. “The list is based both on the quality of care and how satisfied our members are with the services they receive. Of course, that also is a statement about how good our staff and participating providers are, as well as how dedicated they all are to making sure our members stay as healthy as possible.”

The magazine will list the top 50 commercial, top 25 Medicare and top 25 Medicaid plans; full rankings information is available online at USNews.com. In addition, visitors to the website will be able to see detailed reports on plans’ relative performances on select measures from Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) and Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (CAHPS®).

Plans that lacked sufficient data to be ranked, as well as those that opted not to publicly report any quality data, are included. These plans are listed alphabetically at the bottom of the rankings.

Delaware Physicians Care, which provides health care services for the majority of Delaware’s Medicaid members, received NCQA New Health Plan Accreditation in 2007 after submitting to an intensive voluntary evaluation of its delivery system. NCQA’s New Health Plan Accreditation Program applies to health plans that are less than 36 months old. The program is distinct from NCQA’s MCO Accreditation Program. The health plan is the first and only Medicaid plan in Delaware to have achieved NCQA accreditation.

Delaware Physicians Care is owned by Schaller Anderson, an Aetna (NYSE: AET) company. Aetna Medicaid plans administer physical and behavioral health care to fully managed care members for Medicaid plans in 11 states.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.3 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.