National Committee for Quality Assurance Determines Health Services are Good

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Jan. 12, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMERIGROUP Corporation (NYSE: AGP) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary AMERIGROUP Community Care of Ohio has been awarded New Health Plan Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), certifying that it offers high-quality health services to its 56,000 members.

NCQA is an independent, nonprofit organization that assesses and reports on the quality of the nation's managed healthcare plans. AMERIGROUP Community Care of Ohio began operations in September 2005 and serves Ohioans enrolled in Medicaid who live in Cincinnati, Dayton and 16 surrounding counties.

AMERIGROUP Corporation focuses solely on administering publicly funded healthcare programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, serving people who are financially vulnerable, who have disabilities and who are frail and elderly. The company is headquartered in Virginia Beach.

"Health plans that step forward to participate in NCQA's New Health Plan Accreditation program early on in their history are to be especially commended," said Margaret E. O'Kane, President of NCQA. "Our standards are rigorous, and by meeting them, AMERIGROUP Community Care of Ohio has shown that it is well-designed and serious about the quality of care it provides."

"NCQA's goal is to ensure that America's healthcare system offers quality services," said Gary Fletcher, Chief Executive Officer of AMERIGROUP Ohio. "Since 2005, we have worked hard to bring our members the care they need and deserve. We are proud that our work meets NCQA's high standards."

The NCQA accreditation process includes a detailed series of on-site and off-site evaluations by a team of physicians and healthcare specialists. They evaluate how well a care management organization works with physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers to meet the needs of its members. NCQA's New Health Plan Accreditation Program applies to health plans that are fewer than 36 months old and is distinct from the organization's MCO Accreditation Program.

AMERIGROUP Community Care of Ohio is a wholly owned subsidiary of AMERIGROUP Corporation. NCQA has also accredited AMERIGROUP Community Care of Virginia and AMERIGROUP Community Care of Georgia, two other subsidiaries of AMERIGROUP Corporation, and awarded Full Patient and Practitioner Disease Management Accreditation to eight national disease management programs offered by AMERIGROUP Corporation.

About AMERIGROUP Corporation

AMERIGROUP Corporation, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, improves healthcare access and quality for the financially vulnerable, seniors and people with disabilities by developing innovative managed health services for the public sector. As of September 30, 2008, through its subsidiaries, AMERIGROUP Corporation serves approximately 1.7 million people in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. For more information, visit www.amerigroupcorp.com. 

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SOURCE AMERIGROUP Corporation