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Press Release

Independence Blue Cross Joins The Alliance For Healthier Generation To Tackle Childhood Obesity

IBC funding to support healthier environment, lifestyles for kids

Philadelphia, PA - February 21, 2006 - Independence Blue Cross has joined the American Heart Association in a new 10-year initiative to combat childhood obesity and encourage healthier lifestyles for children.

The initiative is the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a partnership at the national level between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation that seeks to slow the increasing rate of childhood obesity in the United States by 2010 and to reduce the rate of childhood obesity by 10 percent by 2015.

Independence Blue Cross will contribute $50,000 to tackle the spread of childhood obesity in the Philadelphia region. The donation includes a $25,000 challenge grant to inspire business, research, educational and medical leaders in the community to support the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

"Independence Blue Cross is dedicated to improving the health of the children in our community," said Joseph A. Frick, IBC president and CEO. "We're pleased to join the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and work with the American Heart Association to conquer childhood obesity and help the children in our region grow into healthy adults."

Pamela Snashall, Vice President of the American Heart Association's Philadelphia chapter, said, "We are proud to partner with Independence Blue Cross and other progressive companies on this important issue, which has reached epidemic proportions." She said that these institutions will help the association "educate and motivate parents, community members, legislators and schools to make healthier decisions that will save children's lives."

Childhood obesity is a critical public health issue that has potentially devastating health and financial consequences. Consider:

  • Nearly 16 percent of all children and teens in the United States are overweight or obese, nearly four times more than 40 years ago.
  • About nine million children six years old or older are considered obese.
  • Children are being diagnosed with diseases previously considered to be "adult" illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels.
  • Obesity-associated annual hospital costs for children more than tripled between 1979 and 1999.
  • Rising obesity rates account for 27 percent increase in health spending between 1987 and 2001.

The Alliance's initiative is in line with IBC's other efforts to partner with forward-thinking organizations in the Philadelphia region to improve health and wellness, including recent work to address childhood obesity here.

Earlier this year IBC completed a successful 12-week pilot program, the High 5 After School Club, which targeted childhood obesity by promoting good nutrition decision-making and fun physical activity to 20 fourth graders at General George A. McCall school in Philadelphia. IBC plans to expand the program by engaging other school districts in the southeastern Pennsylvania region. IBC will provide school nurses with CD-ROM toolkits and other support so that the schools can implement the High 5 After School Club. IBC will also provide materials - including water bottles pedometers, jump ropes and resistance bands - which were also given to the students in the pilot program.

Other partnerships IBC has initiated to improve health in this region include the Partnership for Patient Care, a three-year, $1.25 million initiative with the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council to enhance patient care at more than 50 of the region's hospitals.  The innovative program will initially focus on reducing hospital-acquired infections.

A number of local organizations have entered into the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to combat the prevalence of childhood obesity, including AstraZeneca, Beneficial Savings Bank, Danella Companies, Timothy Haahs & Associates, TRG Health Care and Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen. National participants include Nickelodeon and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

About the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
The American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation partnered in May 2005 to create a new generation of healthy Americans by addressing one of the nation's leading public health threats - childhood obesity. The alliance focuses on preventing childhood obesity and creating healthier lifestyles for all children.

The Alliance targets several areas that will spark change and slow the increasing rates of childhood obesity in the U.S. and encourage healthier lifestyles for young people. The effort will focus on four key areas; industry, schools, health care professionals and kids. For more information visit www.healthiergeneration.org.

Since 1924, the American Heart Association has helped protect people of all ages and ethnicities from heart disease and stroke, which re the nation's number one and number three killers and claim more than 930,000 American lives a year. The association invested more than $348 million in fiscal year 2002-3 for heart research, professional and public education and advocacy.

The Clinton Foundation, organized by former President Bill Clinton after he left office in 2001, pursues four missions, including health security.

About Independence Blue Cross
Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurer in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nationwide, IBC and its affiliates provide coverage to nearly 3.4 million people. For more than 65 years, Independence Blue Cross has offered quality health care products and services tailored to meet the changing needs of members, employers, groups and providers.

Independence Blue Cross recently received the highest ratings from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for its HMO and PPO health care plans. In addition, in 2005, Independence Blue Cross's Personal Choice was rated the No. 1 PPO in the nation and its Keystone HMO was ranked the No. 1 HMO in the region by health care consumers in a leading independent consumer magazine.

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