1999 Marks Important Milestones for WellPoint Health Networks; Blue Cross of California Reaches 5 Millionth Member, Company Reaches 1 Million Individual Members Nationally.THOUSAND OAKS Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 22, 1999-- WellPoint Health Networks Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :WLP WLP WebLogic Portal (Bea Systems) WLP Wafer Level Packaging WLP Women's Learning Partnership (Bethesda, MD) WLP Workplace Learning & Performance WLP World Library Partnership, Inc. ) today announced two key enrollment milestones signifying extraordinary growth for the managed care company, which today serves 7 million medical members. WellPoint's California subsidiary, Blue Cross of California, has reached 5 million members, and individual membership among Blue Cross of California and WellPoint's national subsidiary, UNICARE Life & Health Insurance Company (UNICARE), combined has now reached more than 1 million members. The milestones come on the heels of two prominent awards -- FORTUNE magazine's 1999 pronouncement of WellPoint as the most admired health care company and the September announcement of CaliforniaCare (the Blue Cross of California HMO HMO health maintenance organization. HMO n. A corporation that is financed by insurance premiums and has member physicians and professional staff who provide curative and preventive medicine within certain financial, ) being named Blue Ribbon blue ribbon denotes highest honor. [Western Folklore: Brewer Dictionary, 127] See : Prize HMO by the Pacific Business Group on Health. "This growth is a sign that our range of products combined with our commitment to quality care and member satisfaction have resulted in more people choosing WellPoint," said WellPoint Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Leonard D. Schaeffer. "I couldn't be more pleased and proud of the dedication and hard work that led to these important milestones." WellPoint's enrollment has grown steadily -- climbing by an average of more than 900,000 members annually since 1993. In addition to marking a tremendous accomplishment for WellPoint, Schaeffer said this growth reflects the importance of offering choices to consumers. "WellPoint is a leader in the development of affordable and unique hybrid products, which combine consumer choice with managed care techniques." Blue Cross of California As a leading provider of health care services for more than 60 years, Blue Cross of California has a strong track record of innovation in products and services to meet the health care needs of Californians throughout their lifetimes. Blue Cross President Ron Williams
"At Blue Cross, we've been dedicated to serving all customer segments, providing high levels of customer service and building our provider networks to offer a choice of preferred provider organization pre·ferred provider organization n. Abbr. PPO A medical insurance plan in which members receive more coverage if they choose health care providers approved by or affiliated with the plan. (PPO PPO abbr. preferred provider organization PPO Managed care Preferred provider organization, see there Infectious disease Pleuropneumonia-like organism, see there ), point of service (POS (1) See point of sale and packet over SONET. (2) "Parent over shoulder." See digispeak. POS - point of sale ) and health maintenance organization (HMO) products," said Williams. "In the rapidly consolidating California health care marketplace, quality service and choice are key elements to seizing a leadership position among health plans." Individual Services According to WellPoint President, Individual and Small Group Division, D. Mark Weinberg, choice has been key to WellPoint's company-wide growth in Individual Services. "By offering a strong portfolio of PPO products, we have set ourselves apart from the competition. This level of choice has translated into rapid growth, especially in Texas where, in just four years, we have added over 120,000 individual under-65-year-olds and have grown to become the state's largest insurer of non-Medicare and non-Medicaid individual purchasers," said Weinberg. "Additionally, 15 percent of our individual membership is now established in strategic markets outside California." WellPoint Health Networks Inc., one of the nation's largest publicly traded managed care companies, serves the health care needs of nearly 7.2 million medical and approximately 30.6 million specialty members nationally through Blue Cross of California in California, and UNICARE throughout other parts of the country. WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including HMO, PPO, POS, hybrid and specialty managed care products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management A Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) is a third party administrator of prescription drug programs. They are primarily responsible for processing and paying prescription drug claims. , dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, flexible spending accounts flexible spending account, n an employee reimbursement account primarily funded with employee-designated salary reductions. Funds are reimbursed to the employee for health care (medical and/or dental), dependent care, and/or legal expenses and are , COBRA administration, and Medicare supplements. |
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