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CalPERS Brings Health Care "Shopping" Platform to Members With Anthem Blue Cross and Castlight Health
[February 19, 2014]

CalPERS Brings Health Care "Shopping" Platform to Members With Anthem Blue Cross and Castlight Health


SACRAMENTO, Calif. --(Business Wire)--

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) health care partner Anthem Blue Cross has selected Castlight Health to deliver a consumer-friendly health care "shopping" platform for CalPERS members and dependents covered by its preferred provider organization (PPO) basic plan.

CalPERS members covered by PERS Care, PERS Choice, and PERS Select will have access to Castlight's cost and quality platform as part of an ongoing effort by CalPERS and Anthem Blue Cross to introduce ways to make health care transparent, including the recent statewide rollout of reference pricing for hip and knee replacement procedures.

CalPERS partnership with Anthem Blue Cross and Castlight will afford its PPO members (not those in Medicare supplement policies) the ability to quickly and easily compare doctors, hospitals, medical tests, and procedures based on cost, facility quality, physician quality, patient satisfaction, and convenience. The service will be available through the www.anthem.com/ca/calpers website, a mobile application, and through live phone support. CalPERS plans to introduce the service in mid-2014.

"CalPERS is committed to helping its active and retired members receive high-quality care at an affordable price," said Deputy Executive Officer Ann Boynton, who leads CalPERS Benefit Programs Policy and Planning Branch. The Castlight shopping platform is consistent with that commitment, she said. "We believe the ability to research costs, quality, satisfaction and convenience will be invaluable to our members - a 'gold standard' of transparency - and give them confidence in their health care decisions."

CalPERS, Anthem Blue Cross, and Castlight expect to undertake an extensive educational outreach effort to increase awareness and understanding of the Castlight platform among CalPERS members who are frequent consumers of health care. The three organizations also plan to collaborateon development and implementation of new, more transparent benefits approaches.



"Anthem Blue Cross and CalPERS have partnered to provide price transparency through our reference-based pricing program for hip and knee replacements," said Steve Scott, vice president and general manager for large group business at Anthem Blue Cross. "This joint education effort with CalPERS, Anthem Blue Cross, and Castlight Health is the next step in allowing CalPERS members to make educated choices for their own health care."

"We are honored to work with CalPERS and Anthem Blue Cross to help introduce health care consumerism to CalPERS members. In doing so, we are part of a broad effort to support the delivery of high-quality care at an affordable price," said Giovanni Colella, M.D., co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Castlight Health.


CalPERS plans to conduct a two-year study to evaluate the usage and health care consumption behaviors of its members, comparing members who use the Castlight platform with those who do not.

About CalPERS

CalPERS is the largest public pension fund in the U.S., with nearly $284 billion in assets. CalPERS administers health and retirement benefits on behalf of 3,089 public school, local agency and state employers. Members number more than 1.7 million in the CalPERS retirement system and more than 1.3 million in its health plans. For more information about CalPERS, visit www.calpers.ca.gov.

About Anthem Blue Cross

Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ANTHEM® is a registered trademark of the Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Associations. 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 Castlight Health

Castlight Health is a pioneer of the Enterprise Healthcare Cloud and a leading provider of cloud-based software for health care. Founded in 2008, San Francisco-based Castlight makes health care data actionable, empowering our enterprise customers to gain control over their health care spending and transforming how companies and employees engage in health care. With Castlight, employers can implement technology-enabled benefit designs, integrate disparate health care applications, and provide meaningful information to employees and their families. More than 100 companies, ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 50 enterprises, have selected Castlight. For more information visit www.castlighthealth.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and Like us on Facebook.


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