CMS Chooses Companion Data Services to Support National Data Warehouse.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded a six-year, $28 million contract to Columbia-based Companion Data Services, LLC for data center hosting operations that support CMS' 1-800-MEDICARE National Data Warehouse.

The warehouse contains statistical information based on telephone calls to the 1-800-MEDICARE help line, including the most frequent inquiries and the duration of calls. CMS analyzes the data to improve outreach materials and customer service for the 43 million Americans with Medicare coverage.

The award to Companion Data Services (CDS) is part of a broader CMS plan to modernize Medicare operations and lower costs by establishing enterprise data centers. CMS selected three companies to operate the enterprise data centers: CDS, EDS and IBM. The selection qualified those companies to compete for approximately $1.9 billion in work.

The data warehouse workload represents the second enterprise data center contract awarded to CDS. Earlier this year, CMS awarded a contract valued at more than $200 million to CDS for data center operations that support the processing of Medicare claims from 30 states.

"We are pleased with our selection to provide hosting operations for the data warehouse," said Steve Hammons, CDS' chief operating officer. "CMS wants to ensure that those who call 1-800-MEDICARE continue to receive accurate information as expeditiously as possible, and we are proud to play a key role in that effort."

The 1-800-MEDICARE help line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customer service representatives answer about 40 million calls each year regarding Medicare health plan options, the prescription drug benefit, covered services, enrollment issues and other topics. Those covered by Medicare can also find helpful information at the official Medicare Web site, www.medicare.gov.

About CDS

Companion Data Services (www.companiondataservices.com) is focused on providing information technology services to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). From its Columbia, S.C., headquarters, CDS, a wholly owned subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, and the corporate Information Systems Division provide state-of-the-art health care insurance application systems and one of the largest health care insurance data centers in the world in support of Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, the Federal Employee Program and Medicare Advantage health plans, as well as other private health plans.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.