A Star Performance: Aetna Medicare Advantage Plans Raise the Bar for Quality and Service

Aetna (NYSE: AET), one of the nation’s leading health care benefits companies, once again achieved high Medicare Star Quality Ratings for its Medicare Advantage plans for 2016. Aetna has the highest percentage of members enrolled in plans rated 4.5 overall stars and the highest percentage of members enrolled in plans rated 4.0 overall stars among publicly traded companies*.

“Aetna is extremely proud of this achievement which improved upon our past standards for quality and service,” said Nancy Cocozza, president of Aetna’s Medicare business. “Aetna’s strong Medicare star ratings, in an increasingly competitive industry, reflect our commitment to increasing the number of healthy days for our members by working more closely with their doctors to enhance care coordination and patient satisfaction, and improving our members’ experience.”

In the most recent star ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Aetna achieved an overall enrollment weighted rating of 4.2 stars for 2016 star ratings. Aetna has increased the number of members enrolled in plans with a star rating of 4.0 or higher to 87 percent, representing an eight-percentage point increase from last year. In addition, several of Aetna’s Medicare Advantage plans have higher star ratings this year. Key highlights:

• Aetna will be offering a national 4.5-star PPO plan in 2016, which ranks in the top five percent of plans nationally for the 2016 star ratings;
• Aetna will offer Individual Medicare plans in 682 counties across the nation in 2016. Eighty four percent of these counties will have a 4.5-star rated plan offering and 93 percent of these counties will have a plan offering rated 4.0 stars or greater.

Aetna serves Medicare beneficiaries nationwide with Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare prescription drug plans and Medicare Supplement plans. The company’s strong star ratings for its Medicare Advantage plans reflect its commitment to improve member health and experience. Key highlights:

• Aetna achieved 5.0 stars across all Medicare Advantage plans in three operational measure performance areas: call center performance and two Part D appeals areas.
• Aetna’s national PPO Medicare Advantage plan, serving nearly 600,000 members across the country, achieved Medicare’s highest 5.0 star rating in 16 individual measures on quality and access to care, including health care quality, Part D drug plan quality improvement, medication adherence (ensuring members using medications for diabetes, cholesterol, and hypertension take their medicines), coordinating member care, and the number of members who get flu shots, among many others.

Aetna Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans are available to Medicare beneficiaries for selection during the Medicare Annual Open Enrollment period, which starts on October 15 and runs through December 7, and enrollment will be effective on January 1, 2016.

CMS’s Medicare Star Rating System ranks the performance and quality of Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug plans to help beneficiaries and their families compare plans in their area. Star ratings are calculated each year using a scale of one to five stars (with five being the best), and may change from one year to the next, depending on how the plan performs.

Medicare Advantage plans are rated on how well they perform on five different categories: staying healthy; managing chronic (long-term) conditions; member experience with the health plan; member complaints; and health plan customer service. Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug plans are also rated on how well they perform on four additional categories: drug plan customer service; member complaints; member experience with drug plan and drug safety.

More than 3,000 counties offer Medicare Advantage plans, with 143 insurers participating in the program. In addition to traditional Medicare, 94 percent of Medicare beneficiaries can choose from at least five Medicare Advantage plan options. Medicare Advantage premiums have fallen nearly 10 percent since 2010.

The star ratings are posted at www.medicare.gov. For more information about Aetna’s 2016 Medicare offerings, visit www.aetnamedicare.com or call toll-free at 1-888-247-1028 (TTY: 711). For more information about Coventry’s 2016 Medicare offerings, visit http://coventry-medicare.coventryhealthcare.com/ or call toll-free at 1-877-988-3589, (TTY: 711).

Hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., local time, seven days a week.

Data in this release is based on 2016 star ratings data published by CMS on October 8, 2015, and Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug plan enrollment as of October 2015. CMS evaluates Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug plans based on a five-star rating system. Star ratings are calculated each year and may change from one year to the next.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 46.7 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers' compensation administrative services and health information technology products and services. Aetna's customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com and learn about how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world. @AetnaNews

*Includes publicly traded companies with over 250,000 Medicare Advantage enrollees.

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