Independence Blue Cross Announces 'No Pay Getaway' Promotion Designed to Encourage Healthy...( Eligible Members Can Win a Maui Geta...),Health

Eligible Members Can Win a Maui Getaway and Hundreds of Other Prizes Just

for Doing Something Healthy

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- To encourage members in a non-traditional way to improve their well-being, the region's leading health insurer, Independence Blue Cross, announces No Pay Getaway, an innovative Healthy Lifestyles(SM) initiative that will promote active steps toward better health.

No Pay Getaway invites eligible members who get a flu shot, or enroll in a weight loss or smoking cessation program before December 31, 2007, to go to http://www.ibx.com to enter to win a No Pay Getaway to Maui, Hawaii for two; one of three No Pay Getaway weekends in Philadelphia; and hundreds of other rewards, including free admission to local sporting events, cultural attractions and family entertainment.

"We wanted to give our members a 'jump start' on the road to healthier lifestyles, and we thought this was a fun, unusual way to encourage them to take care of themselves," said Esther J. Nash, M.D., senior medical director at Independence Blue Cross. "If you take steps to stay well and avoid getting sick, you enjoy a healthier life and reduce health care costs too. No Pay Getaway is just the beginning of everything we're doing to help members feel great in '08."

IBC included flu shots, weight management, and quitting smoking in No Pay Getaway because influenza, obesity and smoking all cause serious health problems. Each year, seasonal flu costs an estimated $1 billion a year nationally in medical care and missed workdays(1). Overweight and obesity costs employers nationwide more than $12 billion each year in increased use of health care, reduced productivity, and higher absenteeism, research shows(2). And cigarette smoking results in 5.5 million years of potential life lost in the United States annually(3). With these statistics in mind, Independence Blue Cross deve
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