WorkRx Return to Work Programs Offer Employers New Support in Managing Costly Lost Time.

Business Editors & Insurance Writers

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. & PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 13, 2001

Employers of all types and sizes now have access to expert assistance in preventing and controlling lost time due to disability when they insure with UnumProvident (NYSE:UNM), the leader in income protection.

WorkRx(SM) is UnumProvident's newest value-added service, offering three levels of assistance to its group long-term disability customer companies, depending on the size of the insured workforce. All three levels empower employers to analyze their own lost-time patterns and develop return-to-work (RTW) programs designed to minimize the effects of lost time on expenses and productivity, and helping to strengthen their competitive edge.

"UnumProvident has spent decades studying disability in the workplace," said Ken Mitchell, UnumProvident's vice president of Return To Work Programs, "and by analyzing the causes, costs and changing nature of disability, we have been able to identify the most effective ways to manage it."

"Controlling the costs of disability and health coverage is vitally important to our customers. Until employers actually begin to control the incidence and duration of disability, however, they are only able to manage part of the lost-time challenge," Mitchell added.

The WorkRx offering was piloted with some of the insurer's larger employer customers, based on UnumProvident research that demonstrated cost savings which can result from employers' efforts to prevent and control work disruption. WorkRx Custom programs for large employers offer on-site consultation to analyze lost time patterns, assistance in developing and implementing customized programs to reduce both incidence and duration of lost time, and ongoing mentoring activities that train and develop the employer's internal leadership to create a positive, RTW orientation in the workplace.

UnumProvident's large customers with such customized programs report lost workdays reduced by as much as 25% and new long term disability claims reduced by as much as 30%.

"Based on such success with our larger customers, we began to work on extending the value of WorkRx to our small and mid-size employer customers, who also experience the negative effects of lost time," explained Mitchell.

"Small to mid-size employers, however, often have less capacity to absorb the duties of a worker who is absent. Additionally, these employers are often less likely to have the capital to invest in expert consultation, or the personnel time to dedicate to lost-time management," Mitchell continued. "We are pleased to have created a comprehensive three-level offering that builds on our customized programs for larger employers with two additional levels -- WorkRx Essential and WorkRx Mentor -- that now give small to mid-size employer customers a better opportunity to address these challenges successfully. All three WorkRx offerings provide our customers with proactive tools suited to their needs and designed to help them gain access to the benefits of planning for, preventing and controlling lost productivity due to employee illness and injury," he said.

WorkRx Essential employs a self-service approach that is primarily internet-based, with access to WorkRx.com, a website loaded with benefits including instructions on how to create and implement a RTW program. Also included are a front line supervisor manual detailing how to bring an employee back to work quickly and safely, and regional workshops designed to help customers jumpstart their own RTW programs.

WorkRx Essential is now available without additional premium to new short-term disability and long-term disability income protection customers, and will be phased in to the insurer's in-force customers over the course of the next few months. "With WorkRx Essential, we empower employers by providing them with easy access to important tools that will allow them to become experts in developing a fully functional RTW program," Mitchell said.

WorkRx Mentor provides enhanced RTW services for employers for a reasonable additional annual subscription fee. The enhanced program includes a customized, enterprise-wide RTW evaluation with UnumProvident WorkRx developers; advanced live or real-time RTW training; online access to WorkRx developers to answer specific questions; and web-based training for all members of the employer's RTW team.

"Our customers know they can rely on us to manage claims well. We will continue to support them with excellent claims management, but now we can support them with even more. With UnumProvident's WorkRx offerings, all of our employer customers will be able to add to their competitive edge in today's demanding workplace market by planning more effectively for lost time before it amounts to a situation that affects their productivity and their expenses," Mitchell concluded.

About UnumProvident Corporation

The subsidiaries of UnumProvident Corporation (NYSE: UNM) offer a comprehensive, integrated portfolio of products and services backed by industry-leading return-to-work resources and disability expertise. UnumProvident is the leader in income protection, providing insurance and services to individuals, both directly and through their employers. UnumProvident has more than 100 years of experience in creating innovative solutions that protect the rewards of work: paychecks, assets and lifestyles. UnumProvident Corporation has operations in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Japan, and elsewhere around the world. For more information, visit our website: www.unumprovident.com.