WellPoint's National Government Services Subsidiary Wins Jurisdiction 6 Medicare Administrative Contract

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) announced today that its subsidiary, National Government Services, Inc. (NGS), has been awarded the Jurisdiction 6 (J6) A/B Medicare Administrative Contract (MAC) by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Under this contract, NGS will process Medicare claims and provide benefit administration related services for all Part A and Part B providers in the states of Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as the Home Health and Hospice (HH+H) workload for Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Wisconsin, and Washington.

The contract includes a base year and four one-year option periods.  The total value of the contract, including all option periods, is estimated at $273 million.  If all options are exercised, CMS estimates that the J6 A/B MAC will process and pay more than 477 million Medicare claims over the five-year period.

"This award is an important signal of CMS' continuing confidence in National Government Services and a key step in our efforts to further grow our business," stated NGS president Sandra Miller. "We look forward to serving the needs of providers and beneficiaries in Jurisdiction 6."

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 the nation's largest health benefits company in terms of medical membership, with 34 million members in its affiliated health plans, and a total of more than 69 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 www.wellpoint.com.

About National Government Services, Inc.

National Government Services, Inc. contracts with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to administer Medicare Part A (hospital insurance), home health and hospice, national FQHC and Part B (medical insurance) contracts and the Jurisdiction B durable medical equipment Medicare administrative contract, serving nearly 160,000 providers and suppliers, and over 22 million people with Medicare in 18 states and five U.S. Territories. National Government Services is a subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. and has served as a Medicare contractor since 1966.

SOURCE WellPoint, Inc.