Personal sustainability practices aimed at helping WellPoint's employees improve their well-being and the health of the environment

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), the nation's largest health benefits company, announced today the launch of its personal sustainability project (PSP). WellPoint's new PSP will encourage WellPoint's employees to develop daily practices designed to promote increased health and happiness, while also creating a positive environmental and community impact.

Jointly developed with sustainability firm Saatchi & Saatchi S, WellPoint will pilot its PSP within WellPoint to engage 450 employees on a voluntary basis and help them become healthier and happier, and to connect to a higher purpose that involves the employees, co-workers, family, community, and the environment.

WellPoint's affiliated health plans are also exploring the ability to offer personal sustainability projects to their clients as an enhancement to their existing health and wellness products, which includes an integrated portfolio of more than 40 products and services.

"The time has come for a paradigm shift in the delivery of health care that will empower consumers, drive engagement and increase member adoption of proactive health care practices," said Joan Kennedy, president of Health Management Corporation (HMC), a subsidiary of WellPoint, and senior vice president, WellPoint. "WellPoint's new PSP is an important step towards that shift."

WellPoint's PSP pilot is aimed at helping employees improve their physical health, psychological well-being, social connections and environment through tools such as print, audio, Web communities and on-site trainings to support peer-to-peer learning and motivation.

"PSP Captains" from various levels within the participating workgroups at WellPoint will attend training led by Saatchi and Saatchi S and then conduct internal workshops in order to educate and inspire fellow associates on the principles of personal sustainability. In addition to receiving ongoing support with project development, associates will be able to track their progress and will receive additional resources to help build on their PSPs to ensure ongoing, lasting success. Daily practices include making and sustaining one simple change in life that an employee can be passionate about - anything from riding a bike to work or using eco-friendly household cleaning products to eating healthy meals instead of fast food or recycling at home.

"I believe WellPoint's employees will be more likely to commit to a positive, life-enhancing project when it is one they create based on what is most important to them," said Angela Braly, president and CEO of WellPoint. "By offering our employees the ability to make health and environmental choices based on their personal objectives and local needs, WellPoint will be a better partner for individual and global health. It is our hope that this PSP will reach beyond the workplace and make personal sustainability relevant to employees' daily lives."

According to Braly, the company was inspired to create its own PSP based on a similar initiative Saatchi and Saatchi S has been delivering to Wal-Mart and its employees since 2006. The project was designed to educate, inspire and empower the 1.4 million Wal-Mart employees to improve their well-being and create a culture of sustainability within the world's largest company.

One notable finding of Wal-Mart's PSP was that a significant number of their employees chose health-related PSPs that also benefited the environment. For example, eating freshly prepared meals rather than fast food was not only a way to reduce fat and sodium intake, but also a means to reduce packaging and resulting waste. In fact, as of September 2007, Wal-Mart reported that employees accomplished the following through its PSP:

• Walked, biked and swam more than 1,109,421 total miles
• Cooked 368,779 healthy meals
• Lost a total combined weight of 184,315 pounds
• Nearly 20,000 employees have quit smoking

"The health-related findings of Wal-Mart's PSP demonstrate a unique opportunity for WellPoint to incorporate existing health knowledge and health and wellness offerings into an initiative that combines sustainability and healthy behaviors," said Braly. "We are excited for the opportunity to introduce the benefits of personal sustainability to our employees and, ultimately, to more than 35 million members."

Because WellPoint's PSP pilot is a grassroots movement, a predetermined set of measures used to track outcomes will not be defined at the onset, but WellPoint is hoping to see similar kinds of engagement, adherence to the project and success rates as those realized by the Wal-Mart experience.

"The linking of individual health with environmental and community concerns is a powerful combination that has the potential to catalyze millions of Americans to live healthier lives," said Judah Schiller, executive vice-president of Saatchi and Saatchi S, a global consulting firm that uses sustainability to drive business value. According to Schiller who co-created their PSP along with CEO, Adam Werbach, "Whether it's drinking more water and fewer cans of soda, or getting on a bike instead of driving, the important thing is that people are inspired to choose PSPs because it makes them happy and not out of a sense of guilt."

About WellPoint, Inc.

WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health benefits company in terms of medical membership in the United States. WellPoint is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and 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 Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as Empire Blue Cross or Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.),Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com.

SOURCE: WellPoint, Inc.