Universal American Corp. and Rural Health Clinics Join Forces to Improve Care for Underserved Populations

RYE BROOK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Universal American Corp. (NYSE: UAM) and the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (“NARHC”) announced today a multi-year agreement to deliver quality health care to Medicare beneficiaries who live in rural communities. Universal American will provide rural health clinics with access to the Healthy CollaborationSM model of care coordination. Through the Healthy CollaborationSM, members have an advocate looking at their continuum of care and ensuring they have access to the resources they need to stay healthy, including their doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.

“Universal American already works with approximately 50,000 seniors in rural communities, so this is another opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to Medicare beneficiaries,” said Richard Barasch, Chairman and CEO of Universal American. “We know what works and we have a successful track record using Healthy CollaborationSM as the framework to provide the best level of care for members, regardless of their zip code. We are excited to work more closely with NARHC since they have deep roots in rural communities and care for more than 7 million people. More importantly, we share a common goal: to provide a level of care coordination among providers that will best meet the needs of our members.”

Bill Finerfrock, Executive Director of the National Association of Rural Health Clinics said, “For too long, providers working in rural, underserved areas have been on the outside looking in as innovative programs aimed at improving the quality of healthcare have been adopted and implemented in urban areas but have been unavailable in rural communities. Now, in collaboration with Universal American, we have an opportunity to bring the same types of quality, cost-effective programs typically available in urban areas, to patients residing in rural communities served by federally certified Rural Health Clinics.”

Rural areas struggle with three primary obstacles when it comes to meeting their health needs: the need to drive long distances to receive care, health personnel shortages, and a lack of access to advanced technology. This partnership will address these and other barriers to care in tangible and specific ways. One example is Universal American’s initiative with Public Health Television (PHTv), which is a communications system geared for rural providers that will allow them access to in-service training and educational programs. Instead of expending time to seek out such resources, Healthy CollaborationSM brings it to them and makes it easy for them to use.

About Universal American Corp.

Universal American, through our family of healthcare companies, offers benefit plans designed to promote collaboration among our members and their healthcare professionals. This Healthy CollaborationSM improves, each day, the health and well-being of more than two million older and disabled Americans. For more information on Universal American, please visit our website at www.UniversalAmerican.com.

About NARHC

The National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC) is a non-profit national organization dedicated exclusively to improving the delivery of quality, cost-effective healthcare in rural underserved areas through the Rural Health Clinics (RHC) Program. The Rural Health Clinics program was begun in 1977 (Public Law 95-210) and is the oldest federal program aimed at improving access to healthcare in rural underserved areas. RHCs rely upon a team approach to the delivery of quality, cost-effective healthcare using physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. There are more than 3,400 federally certified RHCs located in rural communities designated by either the federal or state government as underserved.

Matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of Universal American may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Federal securities laws. Although Universal American believes that the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond Universal American's ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and could impact Universal American and the statements contained in this news release can be found in Universal American's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and annual reports on Form 10-K. For forward-looking statements in this news release, Universal American claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Universal American assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



CONTACT:

Universal American Corp.
Gary Jacobs, 202-454-5220
[email protected]
or
Ron Nelson, 866-306-1961
[email protected]

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