UPHP earns top national honor

The Integrated Care Resource Center announced this week that Upper Peninsula Health Plan MI Health Link has once again been named one of the top scoring Medicare-Medicaid Plans in the nation for overall health plan rating.

This marks the fourth year in a row that UPHP MHL has received this top honor out of a group of more than 40 MMPs participating in demonstration regions across the United States, according to a UPHP press release.

UPHP MHL is a health care option for adults over the age of 21 who are enrolled in both Medicare and Michigan Medicaid. UPHP was approved by the state of Michigan and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide the services for Upper Peninsula residents who are eligible for the program.

UPHP MHL members use one plan and one ID card for health care, behavioral health care, home-and community-based services, nursing home care, and medications. Additionally, members are assigned their own UPHP care coordinator to help them create a personal care plan, “making getting care easier and more effective,” UPHP officials said in a press release.

“We’re incredibly proud to be recognized as one of the top plans in nation every year since Michigan began participating in the Medicare-Medicaid Financial Alignment Initiative (FAI) – something no other plan has done nationally. It is our dedicated staff and provider network who deserve the credit for this recognition. Their passion for serving our members is what is reflected in our member satisfaction survey,” UPHP Chief Executive Officer Melissa Holmquist said in the press release. “We’re also proud to see two other Michigan plans amongst the top; it really shows that Michigan is leading the nation when it comes to health care.”

Each year, CMS measures consumers’ experience and satisfaction with their MMP in multiple ways, including through beneficiary surveys such as the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey.

UPHP is required to administer the CAPHS survey annually, which is designed to measure important aspects of an individual’s health care experience, including access to care and quality of services.

As part of the CAHPS survey, respondents — who are required to have at least six months of continuous enrollment to participate — were asked to rate their health plan on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst health plan possible and 10 is the best health plan possible.

Health plans, including MMPs, must have a minimum of 600 enrollees as of July 1 of the preceding calendar year in order to report CAHPS. CMS anticipates making additional information regarding 2019 CAHPS results under the Medicare-Medicaid FAI available soon. For more information on the CAHPS survey, visit http://www.ma-pdpcahps.org/. More information on the Medicare-Medicaid FAI can be found on the CMS website.

Upper Peninsula Health Plan currently manages the care of nearly 50,000 Upper Peninsula residents enrolled in Michigan Medicaid, Children’s Special Health Care Services, the Healthy Michigan Plan, MI Health Link, and Medicare Advantage. Its network exceeds 2,000 providers. Learn more at www.uphp.com.

This article appeared in The Mining Journal. Read more here.