OPA Releases Annual Care Report Card
The California Office of the Patient Advocate (OPA) issued its annual report card on the state's health plans on Wednesday, realigning the release of such data so that consumers can use it to selected plans during the open enrollment period that begins next month.
Elizabeth Abbott, the OPA's director, said the report cards contained 2,000 different data points on the state's largest HMOs, PPOs and medical groups.
Diana Dooley, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said at a press presentation on Wednesday that the format for the report card was more consumer friendly and that she hoped it captured the attention of Californians, particularly younger residents who may be on the fence regarding the purchase of health insurance.
The report cards assayed 16 different health plans and more than 200 medical groups.
Kaiser Permanente, whose payer division operates as Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, was the only HMO to receive an overall four-star rating out of four for providing recommended care. Both its Northern California and Southern California health plans received four stars, while the other plans all received three stars. San Diego-based Sharp Healthcare received four stars for providing information to its members.
Anthem Blue Cross of California and Cigna were the highest-rated of the six PPOs surveyed, receiving a three-star rating for providing appropriate care to its members. However, Cigna received only a single star for the ability of its enrollees to obtain care easily.
Kaiser's Permanente Medical Group division also tended to garner the highest scores among the medical groups surveyed. That survey was ranked by county, and Kaiser's various entities received three or four star ratings for providing the recommended care. Brown & Toland and Hill Physicians Medical Group, which both operate in Northern California, also received high marks, as did UCLA Medical Group in the Los Angeles area.
Several new ratings were introduced with this year's report card, including the prevention of hospital readmission after discharge. However, that data was reported on a percentage scale rather than with a star rating, and all the HMO and PPO plans scored between 91% and 93%.
In addition to the online version of the report card, officials said a mobile version was also available.
Linda Leu, the California-based policy and research director for the advocacy group Young Invincibles, indicated the report card would likely help young adults in buying coverage. “We work with young adults to facilitate healthcare options, and many of them have questions about finding a plan that works for them,” she said, adding that most use their computers or smartphones to make purchasing decisions.
The report card had been released in January until this year's changeover.
The open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act runs from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15, 2015.
