Humana and 10 Other Health Plans Humana is pleased to announce that it has joined the National Health Plan collaborative as part of its efforts to identify ways to improve the quality of health care for racially and ethnically diverse populations. Established in December 2004, the collaborative includes 10 major health insurance plans and works in partnership with organizations from the public and private sectors. The collaborative members represent nearly half of commercially insured Americans and millions served by Medicare and Medicaid. For more than 20 years, research has documented persistent gaps in health care quality that disproportionately affect Americans from specific racial and ethnic backgrounds. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine specifically identified the need for health insurance companies to collect, report and monitor patient care data to build a foundation for solutions to the problem of racial and ethnic disparities in care. Humana is currently working to establish data collection methods and investigate the racial and ethnic composition of our member populations. Members of the collaborative are also testing ways to reduce language-related barriers to quality care. Humana is developing a cultural competence program to increase the awareness of disparities in health care and to educate all clinical associates on the importance of addressing racial disparities. Updates on the collaborative's work and related resources can be found at www.chcs.org/NationalHealthPlanCollaborative. The collaborative includes Aetna, CIGNA, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, HealthPartners, Highmark Inc., Humana, Kaiser Permanente, Molina Healthcare, UnitedHealth Group, and WellPoint, Inc. The Collaborative's activities are organized and managed by Center for Health Care Strategies, in coordination with RAND Corporation and with funding and leadership support provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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