“I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for CountyCare,” said Linda Hooker, a patient at Cook County Health’s (CCH) Stroger Hospital and CountyCare member. “For eight years I was homeless. CountyCare introduced me to a social worker. My social worker helped me find housing. Not only did CountyCare give me medication and doctors, but they found me a home.”

“I’ve learned to take care of myself way better than I used to. From a scale of 1 to 10, I started at a 2 and I’m at a 10 and a half now,” said Ms. Hooker. “I have asthma and COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and I had it in the worst way. I had to gasp for air.” Thanks to respiratory therapy, Ms. Hooker expects to ditch her oxygen tank in the New Year. She sees a doctor regularly for a sore knee and is working with a dietician on healthy eating habits. “From head to toe, CountyCare is my life.”

“CountyCare’s main goal is to keep our members healthy,” said Dr. Jay Shannon, CEO, CCH. “As the owners of CountyCare, a not-for-profit managed care health plan, our focus is on patients. We have invested in sophisticated care management services and other innovative programs to best serve our members and improve individual outcomes and the health of our community.”

This focus is reflected in CountyCare’s recent accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

NCQA is an independent non-profit organization that measures quality of health care providers and health plans using national quality measures and standards. To receive accreditation, a health plan must meet more than 60 service and clinical standards and report its performance metrics in 40 domains.
CountyCare met or exceeded NCQA standards for member protection and quality improvement. NCQA accreditation is a recognition of CountyCare’s ongoing commitment to customer service and quality for its members across Cook County.

CountyCare will continue to put members first as the plan grows. Last month, CountyCare welcomed 160,000 new members from Family Health Network, resulting in a total plan membership of 295,000 members. In January 2018, approximately 115,000 members from Aetna Better Health of Illinois will join CountyCare.

“As a provider-led plan, CountyCare is uniquely positioned to serve Medicaid beneficiaries in Cook County. This is a population our health system has long and proudly cared for and we understand their health needs,” said Dr. Shannon. “In addition to providing quality coverage and person-centered service to more individuals, growth will allow us to leverage economies of scale to the benefit of our members, offset fixed costs and provide a platform that will allow innovations that ultimately drive improvements in public health.”