[January 14, 2013]

Anthem Grant Supporting Personalized Cancer Resources at University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center

Additional resources to help cancer patients are in Kentucky thanks to a $50,000 grant from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's corporate foundation to the American Cancer Society. The funds are directly supporting the American Cancer Society's Patient Navigator Program at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center which provides personalized information and support to individuals and families coping with cancer diagnoses.

"After someone is told they have cancer, they often don't know what their next steps should be," said Terry Music, chief mission delivery officer, American Cancer Society. "The Patient Navigator program is designed to help those newly diagnosed patients and their caregivers by providing personal guidance and increased access to resources and support."

The American Cancer Society Patient Navigator Program creates one-on-one relationships between newly diagnosed patients and trained patient navigators, who provide information, support, and personal guidance throughout a cancer experience. Patient navigators are available to help patients and their families face the psychological, emotional, and financial challenges that cancer can bring. The service is free and confidential, and places an emphasis on assisting medically underserved populations.

"Not only does the American Cancer Society support cutting edge research, but it also offers a wide variety of services and programs to help cancer patients," said Deb Moessner, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky. "The American Cancer Society's Patient Navigators are experts at understanding how to link patients and their families with the services and information they need. They bring everything together in a one-stop-shop way that helps to ease the stress of navigating the health care system so cancer patients can focus on getting better."

In addition to the in-person services available at Markey Cancer Center, the American Cancer Society and its Patient Navigators can be reached anytime of the day or night by calling 1-800-ACS (News - Alert)-2345.

The American Cancer Society launched the Patient Navigator Program in 2005 in collaboration with community-based hospitals and cancer centers to decrease the fragmentation of cancer treatment services and increase access to cancer treatment among uninsured and underserved individuals. Through the program, the Society has placed trained staff in 134 hospitals and treatment centers across the country, as well as in centralized call centers serving large regions to assist cancer ptients as they begin treatment.

The grant dollars for the Markey Cancer Center program are part of a larger, $1.5 million commitment from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's parent company foundation that is supporting 17 Patient Navigator programs in 14 states.

Through its State Health Index - a state-by-state compilation of public health measures - and Healthy Generations grant program, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and its foundation work to identify the health issues most in need of attention and direct charitable support and volunteer efforts toward improving those areas. Expanding access to cancer care and information is a focus of the foundation.

"We are grateful for the continued support of the Anthem Foundation which is helping make a positive difference and provide support for cancer patients when they need it most," Music said.

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Health Plans of Kentucky, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky is available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at www.twitter.com/healthjoinin, on Facebook (News - Alert) at www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn, or visit our YouTube (News - Alert) channel at www.youtube.com/healthjoinin.

About Anthem Foundation

The Anthem Foundation, Inc. is a private, non-profit foundation. Through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities in Kentucky. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These 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 its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaign pledges. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation's largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing about $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

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