Health Plan Watchdog Still Seeks Progress After 25 Years

(By – Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News)

The nation’s oldest private arbiter of what defines high-quality health plans turned 25 last year. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) started soon after HMOs became popular in the 1980s, measuring the effectiveness of the first managed care plans as millions of consumers flocked to join them.

The Washington-based nonprofit’s public reports for decades have helped consumers shop for plans and employers pay the bills. Today, NCQA accredits health plans in every state, covering 109 million Americans or about 70 percent of all Americans enrolled in private coverage. Read more…

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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