Cognizant develops solutions for US healthcare industry

In partnership with health plan providers and third party administrators (TPAs), Chennai-based Cognizant has developed end-to-end solutions to enable the healthcare industry in the US to capture opportunities created by Medicare Modernisation Act (MMA) of 2003.

MMA is expected to cost $724 billion over the next decade, with $37.4 billion in 2006 alone, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

It mandates a number of major changes including creating a new Medicare Part D drug benefit starting in 2006 and defining tax treatments for contribution to health and retirement security accounts, a company release said.

Some of these changes would establish a new model for health plan providers to participate in the medicare program. One key area of participation is the medicare prescription drug program, or Medicare Part D plan, the enrollment through which is estimated to reach 43.1 million people in 2006.

Ramesh Raghavan, vice president of Cognizant's Healthcare practice said that its end-to-end solutions for Part D entablement and roll-out, in partnership with leading health plans and TPAs, comprised a structured approach that identified organisational readiness and built the required functionality.