Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Medicare Plans Among Top-Rated in Nation

Star Ratings reflect performance in quality, plan performance and member experience

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

Oct 14, 2019, 11:52 ET

EAGAN, Minn., Oct. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) and Blue Plus is announcing that its Medicare plans have been awarded an overall Star Rating of 4.5-Stars out of five Stars from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This 2020 Star Rating was awarded to the Platinum Blue^SM Cost plan, the SecureBlue^SM Minnesota Senior Health Options plan and the MedicareBlue Rx Part D plan.

The CMS Five-Star Quality Star Rating System scores Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug (Part D) plans on a series of performance and clinical measures, including quality of care, member experience, health plan administration and customer service. Ratings range from one to five stars, with five being the highest.

"Blue Cross has a long history of delivering high-quality Medicare plans here in Minnesota," said Kimberly Switlick-Prose, vice president of the Blue Cross Star and Risk Adjustment Center of Excellence. "We credit our success to our focus on the health of our members and ensuring that they receive the right care at the right time with the right experience."

Star Ratings are calculated annually and measures are graded on a curve relative to other plan's performance that year. Having a plan ranked 4.5-Star or better reflects being among the top 15% of plans in the marketplace nationwide. 2020 Star Ratings are based on services and care members received in 2018 and are posted at Medicare.gov. More information about Blue Cross' Medicare plans can be found at BlueCrossMN.com/medicare.

"Blue Cross established a Center of Excellence team in 2015 to drive quality performance through its Star Ratings," said Monica Engel, senior vice president and president of government markets at Blue Cross. "The Blue Cross commitment to its members is second to none and helping our Medicare members achieve the best possible health outcomes is at the heart of that focus."

Since its creation in 2015, the Star and Risk Adjustment Center of Excellence has worked to develop and integrate improvements in health provider engagement, member engagement, health improvement programs, administrative excellence and data analytics. Blue Cross plans have maintained 4-Star or better ratings on its plans since the creation of the Center of Excellence. Every year, Medicare evaluates plans based on a 5-star rating system.

Blue Cross offers PPO, HMO-POS, Cost and PDP plans with Medicare contracts. Enrollment in these Blue Cross plans depends on contract renewal. SecureBlue℠ (HMO SNP) is a health plan that contracts with both Medicare and the Minnesota Medical Assistance (Medicaid) program to provide benefits of both programs to enrollees. Enrollment in SecureBlue depends on contract renewal.

About Blue and Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A nonprofit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.9 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago.