UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky Awarded NCQA Health Equity Accreditation

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky has earned Health Equity Accreditation status by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). This accreditation is awarded to organizations that meet or exceed rigorous requirements for health equity in the following areas: organizational readiness; race/ethnicity, language, gender identity and sexual orientation; access and availability of language services; practitioner network cultural responsiveness; culturally and linguistically appropriate services programs; and reducing health care disparities.

“We are honored to receive this recognition, which comes as a result of hard work with our state partners, providers and community-based organizations to identify and reduce the most severe health inequities impacting our communities,” said Krista Hensel, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky. “We remain determined to expand access to high-quality, person-centric care across the commonwealth and help Kentuckians live healthier lives.”

Beyond meeting the requirements for NCQA Health Equity Accreditation, UnitedHealthcare and its holding company, UnitedHealth Group, have funded several projects to help address health equity and social drivers of health in Kentucky. A few examples include:

• $10 million investment in the Invest Appalachia Fund, a regional initiative launched to accelerate funding in community development across Appalachian counties in several states, including Kentucky.
• $500,000 to Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation to implement a program aimed at helping employees advance their careers through apprenticeship and degree programs. This investment is part of a multiyear collaboration with Advocates for Community Health.
• United Health Foundation $1 million grant to the University of Kentucky to address the high prevalence of oral cancer in Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties in eastern Kentucky.
• United Health Foundation $930,000 grant to Pathways, Inc. to launch a partnership to improve mental health in Eastern Kentucky.

“Earning Health Equity Accreditation shows that an organization is making a breakthrough in providing excellent health care to diverse populations. I congratulate any organization that achieves this level of distinction,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care is essential to improving the quality of care overall.”

For more information about NCQA Health Equity Accreditation, visit www.ncqa.org.

About NCQA

NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA Accredits and Certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make informed health care choices. NCQA can be found online at ncqa.org, on Twitter @ncqa, on Facebook at facebook.com/NCQA.org/ and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.6 million physicians and care professionals, and 8,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow UnitedHealthcare on LinkedIn.