No matter how much information is out there about disease prevention – diet, exercise and smoking – more people die from preventable chronic disease. We’re talking about the biggies – stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart and kidney disease.
With March designated as National Kidney Awareness Month, we wanted to take stock and recognize the health plans that are excelling in the measures related to kidney disease; diabetes and high blood pressure – the major risk factors of kidney disease.
First, Some Things to be Aware of During Kidney Awareness Month:
- Kidney disease is the 9th leading cause of death in the country.
- More than 30 million Americans have kidney disease, and most don’t know it.
- There are over 95,000 people waiting for kidney transplants.
- More than 590,000 people have kidney failure in the US today.
We know measuring health care leads to improvement…and that saves lives and reduces cost. Using our measures, we create our health plan ratings so everyone can see how health plans are doing in the key areas of health care.
Of the more than 1,000 health plans rated in 2017, the commercial health plans below scored a 5 (the highest possible) in measures related to kidney disease and had an overall health plan ratings score of 5.
Controlling High Blood Pressure:
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue, Inc.
- Johns Hopkins US Family Health Plan
- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. – Northern California
- Tufts Associated Health Maintenance Organization, Inc.
- Tufts Benefit Administrators, Inc.
Eye Exams
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue, Inc.
- Johns Hopkins US Family Health Plan
- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. – Northern California
- Tufts Associated Health Maintenance Organization, Inc.
- Tufts Benefit Administrators, Inc.
Blood Pressure Control
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue, Inc.
- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. – Northern California
- Tufts Associated Health Maintenance Organization, Inc.
- Tufts Benefit Administrators, Inc.
Glucose Control
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue, Inc.
- Johns Hopkins US Family Health Plan
- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. – Northern California
- Tufts Associated Health Maintenance Organization, Inc.
- Tufts Benefit Administrators, Inc.
NCQA’s Health Insurance Plan Ratings tells us how well health plans are doing in key areas of health care. That’s important information for people who want to see how their health plan stacks up. Check out the complete 2017-2018 health plan ratings and see how your plan is doing.
4 Things to be Aware of During Kidney Awareness Month
Cindy Peña