Health Care Service Corporation Recognized as One of 50 Most Community-Minded Companies for Third Consecutive Year

CHICAGO, June 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, has been recognized as part of The Civic 50 for the third year in a row. An initiative of Points of Light, the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, The Civic 50 provides a national standard for superior corporate citizenship and showcases how companies can use their time, skills and other resources to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business.

"We're in the business of providing protection and peace of mind," said Joel Farran, senior vice president, strategy and corporate relations, HCSC. "To be good at this, our investments and service must reach beyond everyday business transactions to actively strengthen the communities where our members live, work and play."

HCSC efforts receiving recognition included:

Continued Success of Blue Corps^SM, HCSC's Employee Volunteer Program

Blue Corps has grown substantially since its start in 2008, with employees volunteering a record-breaking 110,413 hours in 2016 with nonprofit organizations – an economic equivalent of more than $2.6 millionⁱ. In addition, through the Blue Corps Matching Dollars program, HCSC makes a financial contribution for every volunteer hour spent with one of the company's health-related nonprofit community partners, generating additional value for 330 nonprofit organizations across HCSC's five states. In 2016, HCSC also launched its Blue Corps Ambassador Program^SM, designed for passionate employee volunteers at all levels of the company seeking professional development opportunities. Blue Corps Ambassadors are empowered through leadership training to become experts and advocates for HCSC's Blue Corps volunteer program in an effort to better support community needs.

Ongoing Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

In 2016, HCSC implemented corporate giving guidelines that align community contributions to organizations and projects with codified anti-discrimination practices based on any characteristic protected by law. As a result, HCSC received a perfect score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) 2017 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), earning the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality. The company also continued to grow its efforts to support STEM-related careers in health care and build a diverse workforce through a variety of community and educational partnerships and scholarship programs.

Healthy Kids, Healthy Families® (HKHF)

Since 2011, HKHF has helped provide more than 21 million health services and resources to children and their families across HCSC's five states. As the company's signature community initiative, HKHF invests in and partners with community-based nonprofits that offer sustainable, measurable programs in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, disease prevention and management and supporting safe environments. In 2016 alone, more than 2.5 million children were impacted by this initiative.

The Civic 50 survey was administered by True Impact, a company specializing in helping organizations maximize and measure their social and business value. The survey instrument consists of quantitative and multiple-choice questions that inform The Civic 50 scoring process. The Civic 50 is the only survey and ranking system that exclusively measures corporate involvement in communities.

To learn more about The Civic 50, see a full list of the winners, and to access the highlights, trends, benchmarking data, and best practices from the 2017 Civic 50, please visit www.Civic50.org.  To learn more about HCSC's impact in local communities, please visit www.hcsc2016srr.com.

About Health Care Service Corporation

Health Care Service Corporation is the country's largest customer-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall, with nearly 15 million members in its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. A Mutual Legal Reserve Company, HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, please visit www.HCSC.com, visit our Facebook page or follow us at www.twitter.com/HCSC.

About Points of Light

Points of Light, the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, mobilizes millions of people to take action that is changing the world. Through affiliates in 250 cities and partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages four million volunteers in 30 million hours of service each year. We bring the power of people where it's needed most. For more information, visit www.pointsoflight.org.

ⁱ One hour of volunteering has a $24.14 cash equivalent — from 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, indexed by Independent Sector in April 2017.

SOURCE Health Care Service Corporation

Related Links

http://www.hcsc.com