Commendations

Highest Rating from NCQA 

A+ Rating from The Street (Weiss Ratings, Inc.)

Optima Health received an A+ ratiing from The Street (Weiss Ratings, Inc) for financial soundness,² recognizing its ability to withstand severe economic adversity and showing exceptional financial strength. TheStreet.com is the nation’s leading independent provider of ratings and analyses of financial services companies, mutual funds, and stocks.

The rating recognizes Optima Health as an outstanding insurer offering excellent financial stability for its customers, vendors, and employees. Fewer than five percent of the nation’s HMOs and health insurers meet TheStreet.com ratings’ criteria for exceptional financial strength.

Our Customers Rate Us the Best in the Area

U.S. News & World Report

Every year, U.S. News ranks health plans and recognizes the very best of the hundreds of commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid managed-care plans. Plans were scored from 0 to 100 based on data collected and analyzed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), managed care's major accrediting and standards-setting body. The rankings are the result of consumer surveys and success in preventing and treating illness compared with average health plans.

Optima Health is ranked 55th for its Commercial HMO/POS plans with a score of 84.9 out of 100 with four out of five stars in on our commitment to member satisfaction, making care accessible, and our prevention and treatment programs.  We maintained our strong ranking for our Medicaid Plan with five out of five in consumer assessment and three out of five in prevention and treatment with an overall score of 83 out of 100.⁴

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Optima’s Medicare Advantage program scored above the national average in key areas in a survey conducted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to assess the experiences of beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans. The 2008 Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Survey of Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plans was conducted in the first half of 2008 and measured members’ experiences with our plan over the previous six months resulting in a 75.3% response rate which is above the national average for this survey.

Optima’s Medicare Advantage plan scored above the national average in the areas of customer service, getting needed care, how well doctors communicate and getting information about prescription drugs as well as with the health plan overall.  Additionally, in the area of Medicare-specific, the plan scored above the national average in patients getting needed special therapy.

The value of the CMS survey is that it enables Medicare Advantage programs to identify problems and improve the quality of care and services based on that information.⁵

Health Information Resource Center 

Optima Health’s Eating for Life program received the 2008 National Health Information Award at the Bronze level in the category Total Health Information Program, Hospital and Health Care Systems. The awards program, in its 15th year, is the most comprehensive competition of its kind and is organized by the Health Information Resource Center, a national clearinghouse for consumer health information programs and materials. ⁶

The Eating for Life program is one of many health and wellness programs offered by Optima Health to its members. Program materials include a DVD and workbook for adults to learn about healthy eating and exercise. The objectives of the program include: participants will make healthy food choices with regard to fat, salt and sugar both at home and at restaurants; evaluate their daily caloric needs and expenditure; assess food labels; and develop improved exercise habits.

America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)

Optima Health’s Family Care Program was awarded the 2008 Community Leadership Award from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) for its Girls Community Basketball Program. The award was presented at AHIP’s annual meeting, Institute 2008, in San Francisco, California on June 18, 2008.

Optima Health launched the Girls Community Basketball Program in 1998 in partnership with the Norfolk Department of Neighborhood & Leisure Services. The program has since expanded to serve more than 1,400 at-risk middle school girls in 31 cities and counties throughout the state of Virginia. The program has grown to four leagues in the following locations: Southside Virginia (Halifax County), Hampton Roads, Winchester/Shenandoah Valley, and Central Virginia.⁷

Disease Management Association of America (DMAA)

The DMAA awarded Optima Health’s Diabetes Program the Recognizing Excellence Award for Best Provider Engagement Initiative in 2005; the Partners-in-Pregnancy was awarded the Best Medicaid Disease Management Program in 2004; Partners-in-Pregnancy was awarded the Best Medicaid Disease Management Program in 2004; and the Sickle Cell Disease Management Program was awarded Outstanding Government Program in 2006.⁸

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Optima Health’s Asthma Program was awarded the National Environmental Leadership Award in 2005 from the EPA.⁹