The collaboration will develop a national program to strengthen health plan accountability for delivering person‑centered, age‑friendly care.

WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESS Newswire / August 11, 2026 / The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is proud to announce new funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF) to develop and launch the NCQA Age-Friendly Health Plan program-the nation's first standardized program to evaluate how well Medicare Advantage plans deliver age‑friendly care. This initiative has the potential to influence plan behavior at scale, accelerate adoption of age-friendly practices across provider networks and improve the quality of care for millions of older adults.

As the U.S. population ages, Medicare Advantage plans are playing an increasingly influential role in shaping the quality of care for older adults. However, there is currently no national framework to assess or incentivize age-friendly care at the health plan level. This initiative seeks to address that gap by establishing a program that identifies high-performing Medicare Advantage plans and promote person-centered, coordinated care.

This multi-year effort builds on the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative by developing a standardized approach to assess, recognize and incentivize adoption of the 4Ms Framework-What Matters, Medication, Mentation and Mobility-within health plans. It also builds on foundational work led by NCQA and supported by JAHF, including the development of an age-friendly core measure set and the person-centered outcome measures.

"We've seen the impact of the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement in health care settings across the country," said JAHF President Rani E. Snyder, MPA. "This initiative represents an important opportunity to extend those principles to the health plans that help shape care for millions of older adults."

Integrating the 4Ms into a new national NCQA Age-Friendly Health Plan program will help drive a shift toward care that better reflects the needs and preferences of older adults, resulting in safer, more coordinated and more personalized care.

"The aging journey is deeply personal, and our healthcare system needs to reflect that reality," said Dr. Vivek Garg, President and CEO of NCQA. "As people grow older, healthcare should become more attuned to who they are, what matters most to them and the lives they want to lead. Through our partnership with JAHF, we have a unique opportunity to help Medicare Advantage plans turn age-friendly principles into better care -care that supports independence, preserves function, coordinates around the whole person and engages families and caregivers. By creating meaningful measures and alignment, we can help build a healthcare system that enables older adults to live with greater dignity, health and purpose."

Throughout development, NCQA will gather feedback from older adults and caregivers around their expectations of what an age-friendly health plan would include. NCQA will engage Medicare Advantage plans to refine the program, validate market demand, test the framework and prepare for a national launch.

To learn more about NCQA's Age-Friendly Health Plan program or to participate in a health plan interview to share your feedback, please contact Jennifer Strohmeyer.

About The John A. Hartford Foundation
The John A. Hartford Foundation, based in New York City, is a private, nonpartisan, national philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults. For more than four decades, the organization has been the leader in building a field of experts in aging and testing and replicating innovative approaches to care. The foundation has three priority areas: creating age-friendly health systems, supporting family caregivers, and improving serious illness and end-of-life care. Working with its grantees and partners, the foundation strives to change the status quo and create a society where older adults can continue their vital contributions. For more information, visit johnahartford.org and follow us on LinkedIn.

About NCQA
NCQA is an independent nonprofit organization that defines and drives healthcare quality through accreditation, standards, performance measurement and expert support. For more than 35 years, NCQA has advanced transparency, accountability and enabled healthcare organizations to deliver better outcomes for patients. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is one of healthcare's most widely used performance improvement tools. Learn more at ncqa.org. Follow NCQA on X @ncqa and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa.

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SOURCE: NCQA