INDIANAPOLIS and MINNEAPOLIS (August 19, 2009) – WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), the nation’s leading health benefits provider, and RedBrick Health, the Health EarningsTM company, today announced the two parties have entered into a strategic collaboration to create a new, behavior-based wellness and incentive program for WellPoint’s large employers and health plan customers.
Through an upcoming pilot initiative, WellPoint plans to integrate customized solutions from RedBrick’s Health Earnings System with its health and wellness programs to optimize employee engagement, enhance program personalization, and link financial rewards to healthy behaviors. The collaboration with RedBrick Health highlights WellPoint’s commitment to simplifying the connection between health, care, and value, by promoting value-based health care tailored to the unique financial and health needs of each member.
"Three-quarters of the $2.3 trillion we spend on health care in America is due to chronic disease. At WellPoint, we believe a stronger focus on prevention through effective health and wellness programs can make a difference in helping people adopt healthier lifestyles and use their health care dollars more wisely," said Dijuana Lewis, president and chief executive officer of WellPoint's Comprehensive Health Solutions business unit.
"The purpose of WellPoint’s collaboration with RedBrick Health is to enable two strong companies to provide WellPoint customers with even greater health care value through innovative, industry-leading services that promote wellness and cost savings," said Lewis.
"Our relationship with WellPoint reflects the shared dedication our two organizations have for affecting meaningful change in health care," said Kyle Rolfing, CEO for RedBrick Health. "We’re excited to open our Health Earnings model and technology to a new channel."
Working together, WellPoint and RedBrick Health directly aim to address two prevalent market realities:
- Large employers nationwide spend on average $9,600 per employee in annual health care benefits. Source: Towers Perrin 2009 Health Care Cost Survey
- 50 to 70 percent of health care costs result from poor lifestyle habits and avoidable behaviors. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Data 2006
"As more and more employers struggle with shouldering the cost of care for employees and their families, it becomes vital that we offer our customers solutions that focus on reducing health risks and lowering costs in areas employees can control," added Lewis. "This upcoming pilot further demonstrates how the private market can lead the way in giving individuals the relevant information they need and a benefit design they can trust that together produce the greatest value and positive impact on their health."
About Wellpoint
WellPoint works to simplify the connection between Health, Care and Value. We help to improve the health of our communities, deliver better care to members, and provide greater value to our customers and shareholders. WellPoint is the nation's largest health benefits company, with approximately 34 million members in its affiliated health plans. As an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, WellPoint serves members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri(excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), and Wisconsin. In a majority of these services areas, WellPoint does business as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield or Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield (in the New York service areas). WellPoint also serves customers throughout the country as UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com.
About RedBrick Health
RedBrick Health provides large, self-insured employers and their employees a fully integrated Health EarningsTM System. This system creates healthier workforces and uniquely allows employers to fairly and responsibly limit their financial health liability through increased employee accountability. By linking individual health financing with personalized health programs and advocacy services, RedBrick Health helps employees engage in healthy behaviors and earn all the rewards of better health, including lower insurance premiums. RedBrick Health currently delivers Health Earnings to numerous organizations including Welch Allyn and Hannaford Bros., among others. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Minneapolis. For more information, visit www.redbrickhealth.com.
