MedicareBlue Rx (PDP) Plan Earns Top Rating

Enrollment in "five star" plan available throughout 2012

EAGAN, Minn., Jan. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Medicare's open enrollment period ended on December 7, 2011, but those who are eligible for coverage can still enroll in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota's MedicareBlue(SM) Rx prescription drug plan throughout 2012.

MedicareBlue Rx is the only prescription drug plan in Minnesota and one of just four Part D plans in the country to receive the top rating of five stars from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This marks the second consecutive year MedicareBlue Rx has earned the five star rating.

The CMS Star Rating System provides an overall measure of a drug plan's performance based a number of indicators, including customer service, size of pharmacy network, drug pricing, and patient safety. All Medicare drug plans are rated from one to five stars, with five representing "excellent performance." For 2012, CMS is allowing eligible Medicare enrollees to switch to an available five-star plan during a special enrollment period that lasts throughout the year.

"We are very pleased to be recognized two years in a row for the high level of quality and plan performance that MedicareBlue Rx provides to its members," said Deborah Madson, CEO of the Northern Plains Alliance, a consortium of six regional Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in seven states that offer the product. "We find the CMS Star Ratings very helpful in assisting consumers with their Medicare plan selection in a useful, easy-to-understand way that focuses on the overall quality and performance of a plan."

About MedicareBlue Rx

MedicareBlue Rx is made available through an affiliation of six independent Blues companies, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The affiliation reaches more than 300,000 members in seven Midwest states — Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming and Iowa.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today as a health company: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. Blue Cross is a not-for-profit, taxable organization. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago. Go to bluecrossmn.com to learn more about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.

SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota