PLAYA VISTA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/03/09 --

WHAT:

The X PRIZE Foundation, an educational nonprofit prize institute that fosters innovation through competition, WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), the nation's largest health benefits company in terms of medical membership, and the WellPoint Foundation, one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States, will host an Advisory Committee Summit today in Washington, D.C. to discuss ideas for the development of a Healthcare X PRIZE, as well as viable options for designing an incentivized competition that will tackle these challenges. A sub-set of the committee's seasoned advisors from influential government, health care and education organizations will examine a variety of issues that challenge the United States health care system.

The summit will focus on current practices within the health care industry and dissect issues like disease prevention, payment and financial structures, system-wide connectivity, and the coordination and availability of care. A second summit, during which a broader committee will help design the rules and scope for a potential X PRIZE, is scheduled for April.

WHO:

Attending advisory committee members include: Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO, X PRIZE Foundation; Chad Pomeroy, Vice President, Consumer Innovation, WellPoint; Bill Bradley, former U.S. Senator; Elizabeth J. Dietz, Partner, Health Care, IBM Global Business Services; Dr. Glenn Steele Jr., President and CEO, Geisinger; Dr. Jim Weinstein, Senior Author, "The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care"; John Doyle, CSO, Ascension Health; and Yury Rozenman, Global Head of Marketing, Pharmaceutical Sector, BT Global Services.

Dr. Diamandis and Chad Pomeroy are available for comment.

Please call 310-741-4884 or send e-mail to prcontact@xprize.org to schedule an interview.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER QUOTES:

"I'm very proud that today, with some of the world's leading experts, we will take the first steps to figure out what a healthcare X PRIZE could be and how it might revolutionize the industry." -- Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, CEO & Chair, X PRIZE Foundation.

"We believe strongly that the stakes are too high and the opportunity too great, not to do everything we can to identify the next great solution in health care." -- Angela Braly, President & CEO, WellPoint, Inc.

"This is one of the boldest breakthroughs in corporate leadership I've seen in a long time. We're beginning to generate a whole new generation of conversations and we're going to have thousands of people talking among themselves about the efforts to fundamentally rethink the payment and funding of health care. That's a profound application of the prize concept to social public policy." -- Newt Gingrich, Founder, Center for Health Transformation.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION

The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world's attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world's first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation and its partner BT Global Services are creating prizes in Space and Ocean Exploration, Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org.

ABOUT WELLPOINT, INC.

WellPoint is committed to improving the lives and health of the people and communities we serve by simplifying the connection between health, care and value. Our goal is to help shape the impact each health care decision has on individuals, the health care system at-large, and our communities. WellPoint's more than 42,000 associates work every day to help create the best health care value for our customers. Through collaborations with providers and with innovative programs, WellPoint's affiliated health plans reward healthy lifestyles and quality, safe and effective care. As the nation's largest health benefits company, with approximately 35 million members in its affiliated health plans, WellPoint is at the center of the health care system. This position provides us with the relationships and insights needed to help create affordable and actionable solutions that improve health care.

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.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com.

ABOUT THE WELLPOINT FOUNDATION, INC.

The WellPoint Foundation, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization wholly funded by WellPoint, Inc. Through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes WellPoint's inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that WellPoint's affiliate health plans serve. With combined assets of $200 million, the Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to reduce the number of uninsured as well as organizations that promote the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. 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 annual associate giving campaign and provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaign pledges. To learn more about the WellPoint Foundation please visit www.wellpointfoundation.org.

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