Employers and Employees Benefit From Drug Testing.Business Editors MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 2000 Blue Cross & Blue Shield Blue Shield A US not-for-profit health care insurer that is a reimbursement intermediary for physicians. Cf Blue Cross. United of Wisconsin and CompcareBlue, wholly owned subsidiaries Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of United Wisconsin Services, Inc., are offering a new substance abuse management plan to employer groups employer group Association of employers Managed care An entity with a current group benefits agreement in effect with a health plan to provide covered health care services to its employee-subscribers and eligible dependents. . Through the Blue Cross and CompcareBlue Health and Wellness Program, employer groups will receive discounted drug/alcohol testing and substance abuse management services from Substance Abuse Management, Inc. (SAMI Sami: see Lapland. Sami or Lapp Any of the descendants of ancient nomadic peoples who inhabited northern Scandinavia. They may be Paleo-Siberian or alpine peoples from central Europe. ). SAMI replaces the Drug Free Workplace Network, previously offered to Blue Cross and CompcareBlue employer groups. "A program to manage drug abuse in the workplace has a number of benefits," Carol Heideman, who manages the Health and Wellness Program, said. "Alcohol and other drug abuse in the workplace may jeopardize the safety of employees and, in turn, be quite costly to employers. National statistics estimate American businesses spend as much as $102 billion every year due to lost productivity, accidents, employee turnover and other related problems due to alcohol and drug abuse." "Employers who use drug abuse management programs frequently find reductions in workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. costs," Heideman said. "They may also note a reduction in employee turnover and a better work atmosphere." SAMI was established in 1989 to provide a Medical Review Officer and other workplace substance abuse program management services to corporations and organizations that conduct drug and alcohol testing as part of their drug-free workplace programs. SAMI provides full-scale substance abuse management services including: policy development, employee and management education and training, specimen collection site identification and monitoring, laboratory coordination and quality control, physician review of test results, random test selection, post-accident testing assistance, rehabilitation rehabilitation: see physical therapy. referral and follow-up monitoring and record keeping and reporting. SAMI processes over two million drug tests per year for clients ranging from many of America's largest corporations to small family-owned businesses. The company is the premier provider of this service to the Fortune 500, and serves as the Medical Review Officer service for several federal executive agencies. Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin is the state's largest health insurer. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Blue Cross offers a flexible product portfolio with a broad range of options for small, medium and large groups, as well as individual plans for people who don't have access to group coverage. The Blue Cross Internet address There are two kinds of addresses that are widely used on the Internet. One is a person's e-mail address, and the other is the address of a Web site, which is known as a URL. Following is an explanation of Internet e-mail addresses only. For more on URLs, see URL and Internet domain name. is www.bluecrosswisconsin.com. Compcare Health Services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract Insurance Corporation (CompcareBlue) is a licensed affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield United of Wisconsin and a wholly owned subsidiary of United Wisconsin Services, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : UWZ). Compcare Health Services Insurance Corporation was formed in 1971 and is Wisconsin's oldest health maintenance organization. Headquartered in Milwaukee, United Wisconsin Services operates Wisconsin's largest Health Maintenance Organization system. The company also has substantial Specialty Insurance Products and Services operations. United Wisconsin Services' Internet address is www.uwz.com. |
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