Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri Contracts with JPMorgan for Health Savings Accounts Compatible with High Deductible Health Plans.

ST. LOUIS -- Financial Services Provided by ARCUS Financial

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri (BCBSMo) today announced it has arranged to have Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) provided by JPMorgan directly to eligible BCBSMo members. BCBSMo has arranged for ARCUS Financial, a division of ARCUS Enterprises, Inc., to provide services related to the opening and maintenance of these HSAs. BCBSMo previously announced that, effective July 1, it began offering the High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) designed to be compatible with HSAs to individuals and group employees. HSA-enabling legislation became effective as part of the Medicare Prescription & Modernization Act signed by President Bush on December 8, 2003.

HSAs are the latest "consumer-driven" strategy for managing the rising costs of health care expenses. HSAs allow individuals and families who have qualified HDHPs to put aside money in a tax-exempt HSA account to cover their qualified medical expenses. Individuals who purchase or enroll in an HDHP can make a pre-tax annual contribution to an HSA of up to $2,600, with families allowed a maximum contribution of $5,150. Individual purchasers are not eligible for an HSA if they qualify for Medicare, are covered under another person's tax return or are covered as an individual, spouse or dependent under another comprehensive health plan that is not an HDHP.

"The relationship between ARCUS Financial Services, JPMorgan and BCBSMo will provide greater financial flexibility for individual consumers, employers, employees and their families to meet their increasing health and welfare needs in new, practical ways," said Denny Weinberg, CEO of ARCUS Enterprises. "We value these types of joint development relationships that result in break-through ideas and products - ideas that will lead and shape our business for years to come."

HSA advantages for consumers include:

--Tax-deductible contributions

--HSA account interest is tax-deferred

--HSA withdrawals can be used to pay for any qualified medical expense

--HSAs are portable and owned by the individual; contributions cannot be taken away

--Unspent balances carry over and can accumulate over a lifetime to be used at retirement to pay for uncovered medical expenses. (However, consumers may not contribute once they reach age 65.)

--HSAs may be passed on to a surviving spouse tax free if the account holder should pass away

"As a leading financial services provider to the health care industry, JPMorgan is pleased to be providing this new health care financing option to BCBSMo members," said John Prince, senior vice president, JPMorgan Treasury Services. "JPMorgan is committed to developing new solutions to meet the needs of health care entities and to provide less expensive, more efficient and accurate tools for processing health care transactions."

"Health savings accounts are an important part of our efforts to provide our members with affordable health benefit options," adds Angela Braly, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri. "We are pleased to be able to provide these accounts as a service that allows our individual and group members to manage their health care spending."

For more information on HDHPs and other BCBSMo products, consumers may call their independent producer/agent, the Direct Sales Department at 1-800-366-2583 for individual coverage, the small employer group team at 1-888-800-1053 or their BCBSMo sales representative.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri serves more than 1.1 million medical members and is the oldest and largest health benefits company in Missouri. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri can be found on the web at www.bcbsmo.com. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri is independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri is the name RightCHOICE Managed Care Inc. (RIT) uses to do business in most of Missouri. RIT and certain affiliates administer non-HMO benefits underwritten by Healthy Alliance Life Insurance Company (HALIC) and HMO benefits underwritten by HMO Missouri, Inc. HMO Missouri, Inc. does business as BlueCHOICE. RightCHOICE and certain affiliates only provide administrative services for self-funded plans and do not underwrite benefits. RightCHOICE, HMO Missouri, Inc. and HALIC are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Arcus Enterprises, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of WellPoint (NYSE: WLP), the second largest health insurer in the U.S., which serves 15 million medical and 46 million specialty members. WellPoint is expanding the boundaries of its traditional lines of business through its creation of Arcus. Information about the company can be found at www.arcusenterprises.com.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.1 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses, financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has its corporate headquarters in New York and its U.S. retail financial services and commercial banking headquarters in Chicago. Under the JPMorgan, Chase and Bank One brands, the firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about the firm is available on the Internet at www.jpmorganchase.com.

BCBSMo High-Deductible Health Plans are not HSAs. The HSA, which must be established for tax-advantaged treatment, is a separate arrangement between the individual and a bank or other qualified institution. You must be an eligible individual under IRS regulations to receive HSA tax benefits. The IRS has not yet issued HSA or High-Deductible Health Plan regulations or determined that BCBSMo High-Deductible Health Plans are qualified. Consultation with a tax advisor is recommended.