Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Associates in Wisconsin Pledge More Than $1.3 Million to Community Organizations in 2008

Statewide Not-for-Profit Organizations To Receive Support from Associate Giving, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation


MILWAUKEE, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin today announced that its associates have pledged $897,000 to support not-for-profit organizations in Wisconsin in 2008 as part of the company’s Associate Giving Campaign.


“The generosity shown by our associates during this campaign highlights their integrity and commitment to improving the community where they live and work,” said Steve Martenet, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin. “I am grateful for the incredible generosity of our associates and am proud that we are living the mission of our organization in everyday ways.”


The funds pledged by Anthem associates will receive a 50 percent match from the WellPoint Foundation, the parent foundation of the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, increasing the total to more than $1.3 million. These funds will help hundreds of not-for-profit organizations fulfill their missions. The WellPoint Foundation is one of the nation’s largest corporate foundations with net assets of nearly $200 million.


Across the country, associates of Anthem’s parent company, WellPoint, Inc., pledged more than $15 million, surpassing the national goal of $13.8 million. The 50 percent match from the WellPoint Foundation will raise the total to more than $23 million.


During 2007, the WellPoint Foundation and its subsidiary state foundations funded $20 million in grants to numerous programs across the country. In many instances, the foundations provide emergency grants to support communities affected by disasters, as well as programs and initiatives that will make health care more accessible, affordable or improve quality of care. For example, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services to reach out to Wisconsin families and enroll children in BadgerCare Plus.


“Through our Foundations and our social responsibility programs, we put the full weight of the company into finding lasting solutions to the social issues we understand best-health care quality, affordability and accessibility,” said Caroline ‘Caz’ Matthews, president of the WellPoint Foundation. “In the end, this focus, guided in part by our new State Health Index, which helps us identify the most critical health care needs in the state, allows us to have a measurable and sustainable impact in the communities we serve.”


In Wisconsin, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name used by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin (“BCBSWi”) and Compcare Health Services Insurance Corporation (“Compcare”), independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.


Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of the largest health insurers in Wisconsin. BCBSWi and Compcare are subsidiaries of WellPoint, Inc. WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare.

  Contact: Jill Becher
(262) 523-4764
Jill.becher@anthem.com


PRNewswire — Nov. 20
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Source: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin