MemberHealth to Renew National Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans in 2007

CLEVELAND, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- MemberHealth Inc. signed an agreement today with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide for a second year Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans to Medicare beneficiaries in all 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands under its Community Care Rx(SM) (CCRx) brand and under the Community Pharmacists Care Rx brand in Oklahoma.

All CCRx low-income beneficiaries enrolled in CCRx plans in 2006 can remain enrolled in their plans for 2007.

"This is great news for current beneficiaries enrolled in CCRx because they will be able to continue their same service in 2007," said Charles Hallberg, founder and CEO of MemberHealth, the plan sponsor for CCRx. "It is so important for patients on medication regimens to receive consistent care from the same provider. Our beneficiaries who enrolled in 2006 can continue those relationships without disruption."

MemberHealth met the Part D low-income benchmark in four new regions for 2007, which means that its premiums were at or below the median premium offered by Part D plans. The regions include the following eight states: Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Vermont. Meeting the benchmark will allow low-income beneficiaries in these states to be auto-enrolled in CCRx's prescription drug plan at little or no cost to them.

MemberHealth has improved its three Medicare Part D plan designs for 2007 under the CCRx brand. Two plans have zero deductibles and another plan has zero deductible on generic drugs. CCRx also offers low co-pays, with two plans offering zero co-pays on generic drugs. For 2007, CCRx also has a plan that provides generic prescription drug coverage during the coverage gap, when patients are usually responsible for paying the full costs of their medications, Hallberg said.

For members new to CCRx in 2007, CCRx provides a Welcome to CCRx Medication Review session to help ease the transition into Medicare Part D. During this session, patients and their pharmacists review their prescription and over-the-counter medicine regimen to look for unnecessary or redundant medications, harmful interactions and ways to reduce patients' costs by recommending medications that are covered under their plan. CCRx beneficiaries are never required to fill their prescriptions through mail-order pharmacies; instead they can receive a 90-day supply through their community pharmacist.

About MemberHealth: MemberHealth, Inc. (MHRx) is a rapidly growing, national provider of prescription drug benefits for insured and self-insured groups and discount prescription programs. MHRx is focused on strengthening the relationships between patients, their pharmacists and physicians so patients can take medicines with confidence and save money. In 2006, MHRx was ranked #10 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies in the country. MHRx received the top award in the 2005 Weatherhead 100 competition as the fastest-growing Northeast Ohio company. It is a finalist for the Weatherhead 100 Centurion Award in 2006, honoring the fastest-growing Northeast Ohio companies with net sales of more than $100 million in 2005.

MHRx also is a national Medicare Part D sponsor, offering prescription drug plans under the Community Care Rx(SM) (CCRx) brand in 49 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and under the Community Pharmacists Care Rx brand in Oklahoma. CCRx is the fourth largest Medicare sponsor in the country with more than 1 million beneficiaries. It has more than 60,000 pharmacies in its network and covers 98 percent of the top 100 medications taken by Medicare beneficiaries. For more information, visit http://www.mhrx.com/ or http://www.communitycarerx.com/.