Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada Launches New Health Insurance Options for Large Employers

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada has introduced a suite of new products that provide affordable, flexible options for large employers (51+). Today, the company announced the availability of four new products — BlueSecure PPO, BlueAdvantage POS, Blue View Vision, and Blue Dental Voluntary — and two new programs, Anthem Rewards and Flexible Spending Account Administration that represent enhanced services for Nevada’s large group employer market.

“Anthem has promised to make health care more affordable and provide a wide array of innovative products to consumers,” said Joe Hoffman, VP and GM for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada and Colorado. “The products we’re announcing today, and others that Anthem will launch for small employers and individuals in the spring, represent a solid start toward fulfilling that promise.”

BlueSecure PPO. BlueSecure PPO(SM) is a forward-thinking PPO plan that is based on deductibles and coinsurance, with an added value: many frequently used in-network key services are subject to a copayment instead. BlueSecure preserves employees’ flexibility to make decisions about their doctor, their care and their costs, while making it easier to access benefits for frequently used services such as office visits, lab tests, and X-rays. The plan also offers:

* Extensive coverage: in addition to basic health plan benefits this plan offers prescription drug coverage, mammograms and prostrate cancer screenings, maternity and newborn care; home health and hospice care, behavioral health care, and occupational, physical and speech therapy;

   *  In-network or Out-of network choice;   *  Referral-free Specialist Care, and;  

* Access to medical care wherever the member goes — across the country and around the world.

BlueAdvantage Point-of-Service (POS) Plan. The BlueAdvantage POS(SM) plan allows employers to offer their employees an HMO-based health plan with a very desirable enhancement — the flexibility to receive care outside the HMO provider network. The plan offers comprehensive coverage and the convenience of copayments for covered services received from providers in the HMO Nevada network. The plan also features:

* An extensive HMO Nevada network which includes 6,800 physicians and 28 hospitals throughout the state as well as the option to seek care outside the HMO network, when needed;

   *  Referral-free access to a broad network of HMO specialists;   *  Coordinated care through a primary care physician;  

* Comprehensive coverage which includes not only the basic health plan benefits but prescription drug coverage, behavioral health care, and chiropractic care; and,

* Convenient plan design with copayments — after the co-payment is paid, most covered services received from providers in the HMO Nevada network are covered at 100 percent.

Blue View Vision Plans. Blue View Vision(SM) plans, designed for large businesses in Nevada, can now be purchased with medical coverage or on a stand-alone basis and offer access to great savings on eye exams, contact lenses, frames and accessories. The plans, which cost as little as $7 per employee per month or a few dollars more to cover a spouse or child, provide affordable access and:

* A national network of participating providers;

* Value added savings of 15 percent to 40 percent for “beyond plan” benefit items;

* Flexible, easy-to-use benefits including comprehensive eye exams and fast delivery of eye wear;

* Ability to combine vision and medical coverage in one consolidated bill; and,

* Plans are available on an employer-paid or voluntary basis, as well.

Anthem Blue Dental PPO and PPO Plus Voluntary Plans. Only fifty-four percent of Americans have dental coverage, yet dental coverage is the second most requested employee benefit. Many large businesses want to offer dental plans to their employees, but simply can’t afford the extra cost. Anthem’s new Blue Dental Voluntary dental plans, two (2) standard PPO plans — one with orthodontic coverage and one without — and with two choices of dental networks allow employers to offer dental coverage to employees on a voluntary basis and with lower participation rate requirements than employer-paid dental coverage. These lower-cost plans use the same broad and accessible dental provider networks as employer-paid PPO plans and offer the advantages of a national dental PPO network, as well.

“The new Blue View Vision and Anthem Blue Dental PPO and PPO Plus Voluntary Plans are examples of Anthem’s ‘companion’ products that offer a one-stop shopping experience as an integrated benefit solution,” said Louise McCrary, president of Specialty Products for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. “Vision, Dental, Life and Disability are significant in maintaining overall health and peace of mind for employers and employees.”

In addition, Anthem is now offering two new programs that enhance employees’ health insurance experience:

Anthem Rewards(SM) — an online health and fitness incentive program — to employer groups with 200+ eligible employees. Anthem Rewards provides a simple and fun program that incents members to improve their overall health and rewards them for doing so. In turn, this program provides very tangible benefits to employers through lower health care claims, fewer absences, and improved morale.

Simplified, automated administration for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) to make this insurance option more straightforward and easily managed. Anthem’s FSA programs include comprehensive administrative services, from claims processing to employee statements and manageable reports. Offering an Anthem-administered FSA with Anthem health care benefits is a simple way for employers to provide employees with a money-saving benefit that’s easy for them to use.

“By offering ancillary products at a lower overall cost and on a voluntary basis, we are helping employers to attract and retain qualified employees,” said Judith Jung, product management and business development director for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Large Group Business in Colorado and Nevada. “Many large group employers recognize the value of providing these benefits, but are not able to sustain them on an employer-paid basis. Additionally, we want to provide tools that support our members’ health and wellness goals, and offer incentives for obtaining them.”

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s mission is to improve the lives of the people it serves and the health of its communities. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada is a subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. . WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its 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 Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com/ .

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield

CONTACT: Sally Vogler of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield,+1-303-831-5899 or +1-720-373-4836

Web site: http://www.wellpoint.com/