Pre 2004 Press Releases

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LifeMasters to Participate in Two Chronic Care Improvement Programs Sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

Innovative Three-Year Pilot Programs to Serve Eligible Medicare Beneficiaries with Diabetes and Congestive Heart Failure in the State of Oklahoma and Chicago, Illinois

Irvine, Calif. (December 8, 2004) - LifeMasters Supported SelfCare, Inc., a leading provider of disease management programs and services in the nation, announced today that it has been selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), to provide disease management services to Medicare beneficiaries with chronic illnesses in the State of Oklahoma as part of the government's Chronic Care Improvement Program for Medicare beneficiaries authorized by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.

The Chronic Care Improvement Program was created by passage of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and the three-year pilot program represents one of several regional Chronic Care Improvement Programs that include large-scale population-based disease management interventions applied to the Medicare fee-for-service population. The overall goal is to increase beneficiaries' compliance with established care guidelines to decrease costs and improve health outcomes.

Approximately 20,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Oklahoma will be eligible to participate in the LifeMasters disease management program. Program implementation will begin in spring 2005. In addition to the program in Oklahoma, LifeMasters will partner with Aetna Health Management, LLC. in the delivery of a similar program, providing access to eligible Medicare beneficiaries in the Chicago area.

During the course of the program, LifeMasters will work with eligible Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, congestive heart failure and all related comorbidities. Studies have shown that medical expenses incurred by individuals with a chronic illness account for a disproportionate share of health care expenditures in this country. LifeMasters programs provide customized interventions that include targeted behavior change coaching and nursing support designed to help beneficiaries stay healthy and avoid trips to the emergency room and unnecessary hospitalizations.

"This initiative will help hundreds of thousands of seniors and disabled Americans with chronic illnesses to stay healthier and receive higher quality care," Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said. "Too often, seniors with serious chronic illnesses move from doctor to doctor for their specific health problems without any single doctor getting a full picture of their needs. These new programs will give them the support they need to better manage their conditions and stay healthy."

"Under the leadership of Secretary Thompson and Administrator McClellan, CMS has taken a leadership role in promoting the benefits of disease management through a series of chronic care improvement programs aimed at evaluating a variety of disease management models for the Medicare population across the nation," said LifeMasters Executive Chairman Christobel Selecky. "We believe this is a great opportunity for disease management organizations to continue to help shape the future of health care delivery in the nation and we feel honored to introduce our programs to an entirely new population of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in the State of Oklahoma and Chicago, Illinois."

About the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with the States to administer Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and health insurance portability standards. CMS is responsible for the administrative simplification standards from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and quality standards in health care facilities through its survey and certification activity. Through Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP, about one in four Americans receive health care coverage. Nearly 40 million people are covered by Medicare, about 33 million are eligible for Medicaid, and SCHIP helps States expand health coverage to as many as five million uninsured children. These programs spend about one in three of the Nations' health care dollars, about $429 billion in 2000 (of which the Federal share was $344 billion). CMS spends nearly one in five of the Federal Government's dollars.

For More Information Contact:

Denise Apcar LifeMasters (650) 829-6217 pr@lifemasters.com