WPC Executive Elected as New Chair of ASC X12 Insurance Subcommittee.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- The Insurance Subcommittee (X12 N) of the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 named Alexandra Goss, Director of Health Care Standards for Washington Publishing Company (WPC) as its new Chair and Margaret Weiker, Director, Business Exchange Services Health Care Product, and Standards for EDS as its new vice chair. The elections were held at the ASC X12 trimester Meeting in Nashville in early February. Goss replaces Gary Beatty, President of EC Integrity, Inc., X12 N's chair for 8 years.

The Insurance Subcommittee develops and maintains X12 EDI and XML standards, standards interpretations and guidelines as they relate to all aspects of insurance and insurance-related business processes. This includes development and maintenance activities relating to property, casualty, health care, life, annuity, reinsurance, pensions and reporting to regulatory agencies.

"It is an honor to serve as X12 Insurance Subcommittee chair in a time when our Property & Casualty Task Group is charging full speed ahead developing new XML messages for adoption across the industry," said Goss. "In addition, our Health Care Task Group is continuing work to keep the HIPAA mandated transaction sets current with industry needs as they progress on the next round of implementation guides to be considered for HIPAA adoption. It's truly a privilege to have this opportunity to serve this group of dedicated industry experts."

In her current position at WPC, Goss provides technical consulting services on ASC X12 transactions in the health care field based on her years of health care experience and standards development work. Goss began her career at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration. Goss spent 13 years in the Medicare Part B division (HGSAdministrators) in operations and project management. Goss specialized in integrating government regulations into operational and system processes with special emphasis on EDI, appeals, customer service, and provider enrollment. For the period of June 2002 to February 2005, Goss fulfilled the co-chair role of the Health Care Task Group (TG2) within the Insurance Subcommittee.

Margaret Weiker has over 22 years of experience in the Health Care Industry and over 16 years of experience in the EDI/EC industry. Her responsibilities at EDS include development of new products and enhancements of the existing product, assisting current customers in assessing implementation solutions, as well as providing EDI education and training, assisting sales/marketing support, performing project planning, and representing EDS at various national standards organizations. Prior to her current position, Weiker served in systems support and managerial positions in the support of several state Medicaid agencies and was a systems supervisor in the Corporate/GM Industrial Relations Department. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems. For the period of October 1999 to February 2005, Weiker fulfilled the co-chair role of the Interactive Healthcare Claims Work Group (WG12).

In addition, these individuals were elected or appointed to the
following positions within the Insurance Subcommittee:

Procedures Review Board (PRB) - LuAnn Hetherington, Highmark, Inc.
(elected)
PRB Alternate - Helen Gurevich, Ascential Software(elected)
PRB Alternate - Tim Pearson, Palmetto Government Benefits
Administrators (elected)

To learn more about the initiatives of the Insurance Subcommittee of ASC X12, visit www.x12.org or email [e-mail].

About Accredited Standards Committee X12

The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12, accredited by the American National Standards Institute and comprised of cross-industry representation, develops robust e-business exchange standards in X12 electronic data interchange (EDI) and XML formats that interact with a multitude of e-business technologies and serve as a premier tool for integrating electronic applications. Through standards-setting and active participation in emerging and technically relevant initiatives, ASC X12 facilitates the effective exchange of electronic information. Propelling global e-business, ASC X12 is an active contributor to the United Nations/Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT), an international standard relating to the exchange of goods and services. To learn more about ASC X12, visit www.X12.org or call 703-970-4480.