NCQA awards MHC Distinction to Health Net of California

Health Net of California, Inc., a subsidiary of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE: HNT), announced today that its HMO, POS, PPO, Healthy Families Program and Medicaid lines of business have been awarded the Multicultural Health Care (MHC) Distinction by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). This national distinction recognizes organizations that lead the market in providing culturally and linguistically sensitive services, and working to reduce health care disparities.

"At Health Net, we believe that cultural competency is a critical component of a high quality health care system," said Steve Sell, president, Western Region Health Plan and president, Health Net of California. "Achieving the NCQA's Multicultural Health Care Distinction confirms and acknowledges our commitment to help make health care work for all members - from our comprehensive language assistance program to our quality improvement and medical management efforts that address health care disparities."

To date, only seven health plans nationwide have earned the MHC Distinction. Of those, four plans received the distinction only for their Medicaid product, while three others were awarded the distinction for their commercial HMO and Medicare HMO products.

"Everyone at Health Net is proud of becoming the first health plan in California to receive the MHC Distinction for our Medi-Cal product, for our commercial PPO products, and for multiple lines of business that include commercial HMO, POS, PPO and Medicaid," Sell continued. "And by continuously expanding the diversity of Health Net's provider network, further developing our robust cultural and linguistic services, and enhancing efforts around health care disparities, we remain committed to improving the services we provide to our diverse customer populations."

Source: Health Net