NEWS RELEASE

April 29, 2008

Contact: Sherry Freeman, (920) 593-3416, sfreeman@healthylifestylescoop.org

The Healthy Lifestyles Cooperative (HLC) of Brown County, a health insurance purchasing cooperative, announced today it is now seeking members for a third insurance pool. Inform-ational meetings will be hosted on Wednesday, May 21, at the SC Grand at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The meetings will include presentations from a wellness program expert on how to structure one that effectively impacts claims reduction initiatives, and from current member company CEOs on how participation benefited them in the Co-op’s first year.

For years, the burden of increasing health insurance costs has been shifted to small companies who don't have volume purchasing leverage.

The Healthy Lifestyles Cooperative allows its members to obtain a large group premium structure, take advantage of administrative efficiencies and benefit from an array of non-insurance programs, such as wellness programs, that are key to cost containment.

  Come to hear proof of how 140 companies came together in a community of purpose which:

· moved 6 percent of employees out of severe risk situations;

· improved health risk assessment results in one year by more than 5 percent. (Typically, you may see a 1 percent improvement year to year. Some employers in the HCL have never seen an improvement in scores until now.)

· spurred the involvement of 58 percent of employees in health and fitness activities that helped to earn them rewards and ultimately improved HRA scores. (Typically, 10 to 15 percent of employees get involved in a wellness program.)

· earned single-digit premium increases. For many of the companies in the HLC, this came after years of 15 to 45 percent increases.

To reserve your place at one of the meetings, please call (920) 437-8704 or e-mail psren@titletown.org and let us know which meeting you’d like to attend.

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