Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation To Provide $200,000 to ‘House Calls,’ ‘The Weigh Inn’ Program

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ — The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Foundation LLC has announced that it is providing a two-year, $200,000 grant
toward the production costs of “House Calls, Incorporated,” a television
program dedicated to health topics, and toward the launch of “The Weigh Inn,”
an obesity program for children.

Valerie Walker, M.D., a family practitioner, has hosted “House Calls”
since June 2005 to educate the public on seeking the appropriate medical
providers, counseling and other tools to utilize wellness and prevention as
the primary goal for better health. The 30-minute program now airs weekly on
WRBU My 46. WRBU is owned by the Roberts Broadcasting Company and is a My
Network affiliate that reaches up to 2.5 million viewers in the metropolitan
St. Louis area.

Grant funds will be used for production costs for “House Calls” and
“Medical Minutes,” brief health tips aired periodically on the station. In
addition to the television programs, the grant will help launch “The Weigh
Inn,” a childhood obesity program. During its pilot year, 100 children
identified as obese by their school nurse, physician visits or radio
promotions of the program will enroll in an intensive fitness and nutrition
program. Five fitness instructors and two dieticians have confirmed their
support to teach the children how to grow vegetables.

Dennis Matheis, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in
Missouri, said the grant supports the company’s goals of getting health and
wellness information into the community and by helping tackle the growing
problem of childhood obesity. “Last year we announced the State Health Index
as a way to track our ability to improve the health of our community,” he
said. “These initiatives are great efforts to fulfill these goals.”

Dr. Walker is very active in keeping the African American community
informed on matters improving health and well being by engaging in behavioral
changes through knowing and recognizing risk factors, and detection and
control of disease.

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation

Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Association, promotes Anthem’s inherent commitment to enhance the health and
well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem Blue Cross
and Blue Shield serves. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic
initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to reduce the number
of uninsured as well as organizations and nonprofit charities that promote the
Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets
specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care
in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long
term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes
prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations
and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company’s annual
associate giving campaign and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent
match of associates’ campaign pledges. (R)ANTHEM is a registered trademark of
Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and
symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. To
learn more about the Foundation please visit www.wellpointfoundation.org .

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri

In Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area) Anthem Blue
Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name for RightCHOICE(R) Managed Care, Inc.
(RIT), Healthy Alliance(R) Life Insurance Company (HALIC), and HMO Missouri,
Inc. RIT and certain affiliates administer non-HMO benefits underwritten by
HALIC and HMO benefits underwritten by HMO Missouri, Inc. RIT and certain
affiliates only provide administrative services for self-funded plans and do
not underwrite benefits. Independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue
Shield Association. (R)ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance
Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are
registered marks of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Additional
information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri is available
at www.anthem.com .

ABOUT WRBU AND ROBERTS BROADCASTING COMPANY

Roberts Broadcasting Company was founded in 1989 by Steven and Michael
Roberts. Roberts Broadcasting [RBC] is licensee for WRBU-TV, Channel 46, in
St. Louis, Mo., the first minority-owned, full-power television station to
enter the St. Louis market in more than 20 years. Originally an affiliate of
Home Shopping Network, TV46 became an affiliate of UPN in April 2003. In
September 2006, WRBU became an affiliate of FOX-owned MYNETWORK TV. WRBU
broadcasts to more than 2.5 million viewers in the St. Louis ADI. Roberts
Broadcasting also owns WZRB/CW 47, Columbia, S.C.; WAZE/CW 19, Evansville,
Indiana; WRBJ/CW 34; and WRBJ/ 97.7 FM, Jackson, Mississippi.

SOURCE Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri