Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City Recognized as an American Heart Association Start! Fit-Friendly Company

Kansas City, MO November 10, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information Contact:
Susan M. Johnson
816.395.3566

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City Recognized as an American Heart Association Start! Fit-Friendly Company
Blue KC takes steps to decrease healthcare expenses, increase productivity

KANSAS CITY, MO, November 10, 2011 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City has been recognized as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company by the American Heart Association's Start! initiative for helping employees eat better and move more. Only three companies in the Kansas City area can claim achieving Platinum status. Nationwide, only 215 companies were awarded the recognition. Blue KC is proud to have been honored with the recognition four years straight.

"The health and wellness of our employees is a top priority at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. We are honored and excited to be recognized once again by the American Heart Association's Start! movement as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company," said David Gentile, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. "At Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, we strongly believe in the importance of promoting health and wellness within our company to maintain the best workplace environment possible. This recognition only reaffirms our efforts towards improving the health of the Kansas City community."

Platinum-level employers:

• Offer employees physical activity options in the workplace
• Increase healthy eating options at the worksite
• Promote a wellness culture in the workplace
• Implement at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture
• Demonstrate measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness

Each year, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City finds innovative ways to increase employee participation in its incentive programs and wellness activities. This year, the company released the "Blueopoly" program as an internal health and wellness incentive program for employees.

"Blueopoly" rewards employees based on physical activity, mental activity, Preventative Health Management, nutrition, and rest and rejuvenation.

One of the company's major focuses with this program was improving its meal options. "Here at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, we recognize the importance of nutrition. We strive to present healthy options to our employees, including a salad bar everyday and a variety of heart healthy options. We use a "stoplight system' utilizing a symbol for red light, yellow light, and green light in our cafeteria to alert employees to the health values of the food they are choosing. We also post the entire nutritional value of each of our lunch and breakfast items in the cafeteria and online," said Sherri Enright, Senior Vice President, Administrative Services & Chief Human Resources Executive.

The Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program works as a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping companies, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, make their employees' health and wellness a priority.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938. Blue KC provides health coverage services to nearly one million residents in the greater Kansas City area, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and 30 counties in Northwest Missouri. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information on the company, visit its website at www.BlueKC.com. Our mission: to use our role as the area's leading health insurer to provide affordable access to health care and to improve the health and wellness of our members.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America's No. 1 and No. 3 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation's oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or join us, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or any of our offices around the country, or visit heart.org.

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