UniCare Takes Action to Address Critical West Virginia Health Needs and Create a Healthier Generation of West Virginians

UniCare Foundation, UniCare Health Plan and associates support the
state with approximately $360,000 in grants and sponsorships in 2016

CHARLESTON, W.Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#HealthyWV–The UniCare Foundation, the philanthropic arm of UniCare Health Plan of
West Virginia, has made more than $330,000 in grants available in 2016
to improve the health and wellbeing of West Virginians. Additionally,
UniCare Health Plan, a statewide provider of West Virginia Medicaid
managed care services, along with its associates, contributed another
$28,000 to sponsor health initiatives and community improvement. Partner
organizations helped to allocate the funds:

• A grant was provided to the American Heart Association to
  advance efforts to double cardiac arrest survival rates by 2020
  through Hands-Only CPR education and training. UniCare
  Foundation funding enabled the purchase and distribution of hundreds
  of CPR training kits. More than 2,200 West Virginians have already
  been trained in the lifesaving Hands-Only CPR. More than 640 of these
  individuals received their training during a mobile training tour that
  UniCare brought to West Virginia.
• The Foundation provided two Triple Play Program grants to local Boys
  & Girls Clubs that made it possible for more than 285 West
  Virginia youth to participate in Triple Play’s active lifestyle
  programs. These grants enriched programing and connected more than
  4,000 youth across the entire state of West Virginia.
• The American Lung Association received a grant from the
  Foundation to make smoking cessation more accessible to pregnant women
  in McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties.
  This support helped engage more than 190 West Virginians in cessation
  clinics and sponsored Freedom from Smoking facilitator
  training, which yielded 14 facilitators who are now certified to lead
  smoking cessation clinics within their communities. Additionally,
  funding was used for a comprehensive public awareness campaign that
  involved television, radio, print literature, billboards and more to
  reach tens of thousands of people.
• Through a fund established to help associates who are experiencing
  personal hardship, illness or injury, the Foundation distributed
  thousands of dollars to help associates who were impacted by the
  devastating flooding that hit West Virginia in June 2016.
• UniCare associates also raised nearly $18,000 for local charities and
  non-profits through personal donations and a company program that
  matches volunteer hours with dollars. UniCare associates also
  volunteers more than 260 hours of their personal time in 2016, to help
  residents and improve communities across West Virginia.

“UniCare is proud of the support contributed by our Foundation and
associates to help West Virginia to thrive, grow and prosper,” said
Mitch Collins, president of UniCare Health Plan. “We remain committed to
improving health and wellness across our state, and look forward to
continuing to build brighter futures.”

UniCare funds programs that help address complex health needs and raise
awareness about statewide health issues, particularly obesity, chronic
disease, prenatal care and cardiac arrest. Funded programs promote the
importance of health education, staying physically active, access to
appropriate nutrition and making healthy lifestyle choices. For more
information about sponsored programs and funding, see the company’s
annual online Corporate
Responsibility Report, which outlines the company’s commitment to
making a difference in people’s lives through the work of its
associates, the philanthropic efforts of its Foundation, its
diversity/inclusion initiatives and its environmentally responsible
business practices.

ABOUT THE UNICARE FOUNDATION

The UniCare Foundation is the philanthropic arm of UniCare Health Plan,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Anthem, Inc. Together, with local, regional
and national organizations, the UniCare Foundation works to enhance the
health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that
UniCare and its affiliated health plans serve. UniCare Foundation
funding is focused on strategic initiatives working to address and
provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as
promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational
initiative with five areas of focus: Healthy Heart, Cancer Prevention,
Healthy Maternal Practices, Type 2 Diabetes Prevention, and Healthy
Active Lifestyle. These disease states and medical conditions include:
prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac
morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase
physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult
pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The
Foundation also coordinates the company’s year-round Associate Giving
program which provides a 50 percent match of associates’ campaign
pledges, as well as Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community
service programs. To learn more about the UniCare Foundation, please
visit www.anthem.foundation.

ABOUT UNICARE HEALTH PLAN OF WEST VIRGINIA, INC.

UniCare Health Plan of West Virginia, Inc. serves more than 140,000
Medicaid beneficiaries living in West Virginia. Every day, members of
the UniCare team can be found in West Virginia communities listening to
our members, interacting with our health care providers and partnering
with community-based organizations. UniCare has served Medicaid
beneficiaries in West Virginia since 2003. For more information about
UniCare, visit http://mss.unicare.com/,
and follow the company on Twitter @UniCareWV.

Contacts

UniCare Media Contact:
Denise Malecki
813-830-6986
dionisia.malecki@anthem.com