Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Honored by Marc...( Anthem joins March of Dimes and India...),Health

Anthem joins March of Dimes and Indiana Fever for an evening of celebration

INDIANAPOLIS, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana will be honored by the March of Dimes on June 7 at the Indiana Fever game for their ongoing support and collaboration to help families with critically ill babies throughout the state and to celebrate Anthem's participation in the successful "March for Babies" walk.

For several years, Anthem has teamed up with the March of Dimes by providing education and support for health care providers and parents to help ensure a healthy future for Indiana's tiniest residents. According to the March of Dimes, one in eight babies in Indiana is born prematurely which can often lead to long-term disabilities with these infants. Prematurity is the number one reason babies are born tiny (low birth weight), sick and struggling to survive. Moreover, with Anthem's State Health Index citing the rate of low birth weight babies as a major public health issue, teaming with the March of Dimes is increasingly important to help reverse this growing trend.

Through its unique Community Resource Centers, Anthem's State Sponsored Business is in an ideal position to help identify local issues affecting Hoosier Healthwise and Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) members and form meaningful community relationships to help improve the health of families and the communities where they live. By collaborating with the March of Dimes, local staff is able to provide expectant mothers with vital resources to help them ensure a healthy pregnancy and avoid premature birth.

"To improve the lives of the members and communities we serve, we need to look at avenues for collaboration that will yield the greatest results," said Leslie Naamon, regional vice president, State Sponsored Business. "By collaborating with the March of Dimes we know we are teaming with an organization that shares our commitment to raise the awareness of premature b
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