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Press Release

Independence Blue Cross to Join Cover The Uninsured Week

This week's events part of IBC's year-round commitment to its Social Mission programs

Philadelphia, PA - May 2, 2005 - Independence Blue Cross is joining a broad coalition of area organizations in a nationwide call to America's leaders to make health care coverage a top priority. IBC will participate in events hosted in Philadelphia May 1-8 during the third installation of Cover the Uninsured Week, the largest nonpartisan mobilization in history on the issue of the uninsured.

"Cover the Uninsured Week is an opportunity to turn the national spotlight on the need for secure, reliable and affordable health care coverage for all Americans," said Joseph A. Frick, IBC President and CEO. "IBC has a rich history and tradition of reaching out to and meeting the health care needs of our community's most vulnerable citizens through our corporate culture and our Social Mission. Our Caring Foundation, and participation in the CHIP, Special Care and adultBasic programs continue to provide thousands of Pennsylvanians quality health care coverage. But, our support does not end there. Indeed, our commitment to our community, and in particular, to the uninsured has grown over the last three years with the creation of the Charitable Medical Care Grant and Nurse Scholars programs."

"Reaching out to the uninsured in our community will always be one of our top priorities. We are fortunate to have associates who have adopted this culture of caring in our everyday work." he added.

According to the study, "Characteristics of the Uninsured: A View from the States" released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the number of uninsured in Pennsylvania is sizeable: nearly 600,000 Pennsylvanians - at least one working adult in every 10 - do not have health care coverage. The study further reveals that between one-fourth and one-half of all uninsured adults nationwide were unable to see a doctor when needed because of cost.

To coincide with Cover the Uninsured Week, Independence Blue Cross is launching a new Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) advertisement campaign today. Twenty-five SEPTA busses that run through the Greater Philadelphia area will sport the new CHIP ads on its bus sides, while 150 ads with tear-off cards will go up on SEPTA subways.

Independence Blue Cross, an administrator of the CHIP program through the Caring Foundation, has provided Keystone HMO coverage to 158,355 children in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties since 1990. CHIP is free for most children, but for those whose families have slightly higher incomes, the Caring Foundation subsidizes the monthly payment so that parents pay a reduced monthly premium of only $30 per child instead of the regular monthly premium of $65.90 per child. This year alone, the Caring Foundation will dedicate over $900,000 to help make health care more affordable to uninsured children.

In addition to CHIP, IBC also offers Special Care and adultBasic to provide low-income area residents with affordable access to health care. The programs can provide help for people who are temporarily uninsured and need “gap” coverage or for those who have been uninsured for a long time. IBC also subsidizes the two programs to make insurance more affordable to families and individuals.

IBC is the sole administrator in southeastern Pennsylvania for the adultBasic program, which offers Keystone Health Plan East HMO coverage for adults ages 19 to 64. adultBasic is a state-funded program through Pennsylvania's Tobacco Settlement Fund.

Special Care is a low-cost, limited benefit policy providing traditional fee-for-service health coverage for uninsured individuals and families in southeastern Pennsylvania who cannot afford to purchase private health care coverage, yet are not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare.

IBC's Social Mission programs also include the Charitable Medical Care Grant Program and the IBC Nurse Scholars Program. The Charitable Medicare Care Grant Program offers non-profit, privately-funded clinics three-year grants to ensure they are able to treat thousands of uninsured and underinsured patients in our area. The IBC Nurse Scholars Program was created to address the critical shortage of nurses and nurse educators by underwriting scholarship funding for qualified students attending an accredited nursing graduate and undergraduate program.