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Anthem National Accounts and General Motors Partner to Develop the Nation's Most Comprehensive Health Care Transparency Initiative


September 2006
 Filed under: GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATE Car News | GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATE Headlines

Pilot driven by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio provides the most complete picture of costs associated with medical procedures

DAYTON, Ohio, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthem National Accounts announced today its work with General Motors on an innovative pilot in Dayton that provides total estimated costs associated with all aspects of nearly 40 specific medical procedures performed at local area hospitals. Through an online tool called Anthem CareCompare, more than 300,000 Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield members in Dayton, including thousands of General Motors' employees, will have access to the country's most comprehensive cost information on common medical procedures.
The Anthem CareCompare pilot, which the company plans to roll out nationally, will enable consumers to access the costs associated with all aspects of a specific medical procedure -- not just the cost of the procedure itself, but the costs of the entire spectrum of care, from lab tests to recovery room charges. In addition, the costs are facility specific, so members can compare the differences in cost between Dayton hospitals.

For example, while some health benefits companies may provide their members with the cost of a labor and delivery procedure, the Anthem CareCompare tool generates this information while also factoring in hospital costs, physician costs, and anesthesia costs to provide a more accurate total cost analysis. These complete, facility-specific medical care cost estimates help consumers understand the overall costs they will incur before a medical service is provided.

"The goal of this pilot is to provide members with as much information as possible before they undergo health care procedures, enabling them to make more informed decisions regarding their health and health care spending," said Ken Goulet, president, Anthem National Accounts, a business unit of WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:WLP) , the nation's largest health benefits provider. "We believe the more information our members have, the better decisions they will make about their overall well being. In turn, healthier employees can help employers more effectively control health care costs."

Anthem's partner in the pilot, General Motors, is the largest private purchaser of health care in the United States, paying the health care costs of 1.1 million employees, retirees and dependents. In 2005, General Motors spent $5.3 billion on employee health care.

"We believe the outcome of this pilot will result in more informed Dayton- area patients who are able to make better health care choices based on innovative, user-friendly tools that provide comprehensive information about true out-of-pocket medical costs," said Bruce Bradley, director of Public Policy and Strategy for Healthcare Initiatives, General Motors. "This unique pilot is the most comprehensive in the nation, packaging the costs of all related services and tests around a specific procedure and giving consumers a complete picture of their costs. It's easy to understand, easy to access, and easy to navigate."

The data generated for the Anthem CareCompare tool comes directly from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's claims paid data over the past 12 months and is updated quarterly. In addition, cost and quality information, including ratings based on the number of services performed at each facility, is supplied by several company-developed programs and partnerships with leading information management companies.

Ultimately, the pilot in Dayton is an important part of the company's vision of helping to create a health care system that is less complex and easier for consumers to navigate, according to Samuel Nussbaum, M.D., chief medical officer of WellPoint.

"Developing and testing transparency tools like Anthem CareCompare is helping our company become the most trusted choice for consumers and a leader in affordable, quality health care," said Nussbaum. "Ultimately, our transparency strategies are creating well-informed consumers, as well as employers and providers. We have a number of initiatives underway to provide meaningful and credible information to our members so that they, in partnership with their health care providers, can make better health care decisions for themselves and their families."

About Anthem National Accounts

The Anthem National Accounts business unit serves members of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in the 11 states of Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.) and Wisconsin, in addition to Blue Cross of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in the state of New York (Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Empire Blue Cross or Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only). All are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Additional information about Anthem is available at http://www.anthem.com/ .

Source: WellPoint, Inc.

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