Medcore Health Plan Members to Transition into SCAN Health Plan

      

STOCKTON, Calif., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- In a desire to focus their energy and efforts on the continued delivery of affordable, high-quality medical care without administrative encumbrances, Omni IPA Medical Group has entered into a partnership with SCAN Health Plan to transition the approximately 2,100 members of its Medcore Health Plan into SCAN. There will be no change in benefits and members will continue to see the same physicians and hospitals with no interruption of care.

"In SCAN we found a not-for-profit partner who shares our mission and strong commitment to member rights and service excellence," said Kirit Patel, M.D., president and CEO of Omni IPA. "Through this agreement our members will continue to see all of their physicians and enjoy all of the benefits they have come to expect, while our medical group will be able to focus on what we love doing most - keeping seniors healthy and providing care when they need it."

SCAN is a not-for-profit organization founded 30 years ago to serve the unique needs of seniors. Unlike most Medicare Advantage plans, SCAN has no commercial membership, thus allowing the plan to focus all of its energy toward serving older adults across the wide spectrum of aging. With more than 110,000 Medicare members in Southern California and Arizona, SCAN is the third largest plan of its type in California and the fourth largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage Plan in the nation. Earlier this month SCAN announced that it had received regulatory approval to expand its Medicare Advantage Plan into San Francisco, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties, effective January 1, 2010.

"We are thrilled at this opportunity and are excited to welcome the Medcore members into the SCAN family," said SCAN President and CEO Dave Schmidt. "Our goal in San Joaquin County, as it is in every market we serve, is to provide affordable and accessible quality healthcare to seniors and to find innovative ways to enhance seniors' ability to mange their health and continue to control where and how they live."

Despite all the confusion and concern around Medicare, Schmidt stresses that SCAN has "a strong commitment to growth and retention in this market" and that the company has never exited a market it's entered. "We can assure seniors and providers that we are here to stay," he says.

Current members of Medcore Health Plan will soon be receiving a new SCAN member ID card. Beyond that, the transition into SCAN will be transparent as there is no change in providers or benefits, including pharmacy. That means that members still enjoy the unique benefit of zero premiums along with all of the other value-added benefits they have come to enjoy.

As SCAN members, they will now be able to avail themselves of the additional benefits SCAN offers including the health plan's commitment to extraordinary service - such as live voices (not recordings) answering the phone, ongoing member communication, and opportunities to meet with SCAN leadership at annual "Straight Talk" gatherings in the community. In addition, SCAN serves as a strong advocate for Medicare recipients and a senior voice in the public policy debate.

Medcore Health Plan, Omni IPA, and SCAN Health Plan all believe that the new partnership provides real value to the senior population, the providers and the community as a whole. All three organizations have a long history of providing health care and serving members and are committed to the provision of affordable and accessible health care to seniors in San Joaquin County.

Omni IPA was formed in 1985 by a number of San Joaquin County physicians. In 1996 Omni formed Medcore Management Inc. to provide management and administrative services; and in 2006, following the granting of a Knox-Keene license by the California Department of Managed Health four years earlier, it began serving Medicare members in San Joaquin County as Medcore Health Plan.

SOURCE SCAN Health Plan