WellPoint State Sponsored Business Collaborates with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- WellPoint's State Sponsored Business division announced today an agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) to serve as an administrative subcontractor for the plan's Texas STAR and CHIP contract in the Travis Service area which includes Travis, Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee and Williamson counties.

This unique arrangement capitalizes on WellPoint's expertise in Medicaid managed care and BCBSTX's history of serving almost five million members in the state of Texas. Under this new agreement WellPoint's affiliate, WellPoint Partnership Plan, LLC will provide BCBSTX with customer service, claims administration and medical and quality management. In addition, WellPoint will provide operational support to help develop and implement infrastructure required for programs that will serve BCBSTX, STAR and CHIP members. 

"We are pleased to collaborate with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas to support their new contract," said Kevin R. Hayden, president of WellPoint's State Sponsored Business. "The collaboration between our State Sponsored Business and BCBSTX is a great opportunity to couple our expertise in serving the Medicaid population with BCBSTX's strong local presence and provider networks to help provide greater access to care," he added.

The community based model used to help meet the diverse and challenging needs of Medicaid members has become the cornerstone of WellPoint's State Sponsor Business division. With more than a decade of experience, State Sponsored Business has successfully developed care and disease management programs that are specifically designed to help meet the health and socioeconomic issues often faced by Medicaid beneficiaries.

WellPoint's State Sponsored Business currently serves nearly 1.8 million members in ten states across the country.

About WellPoint, Inc.:
WellPoint works to simplify the connection between Health, Care and Value. We help to improve the health of our members and our communities, and provide greater value to our customers and shareholders. WellPoint is one of the nation's largest health benefits companies, with 34 million members in its affiliated health plans, and a total of more than 66 million individuals served through its subsidiaries. As an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, WellPoint serves 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 the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), and Wisconsin. In a majority of these service areas, WellPoint's plans do business as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Empire Blue Cross (in the New York service areas). WellPoint also serves customers throughout the country as UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com/.

**Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is a Division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

SOURCE WellPoint, Inc.