Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Highlights Record Volunteerism and Support for Hundreds of Community Organizations

News provided by

Apr 05, 2016, 05:24 ET

CHICAGO, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In 2015, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) collaborated with hundreds of community organizations through employee volunteers and financial investments to help make the people of Illinois healthier. Details of the company's efforts to prevent and manage conditions such as obesity, cancer, diabetes and asthma are highlighted in BCBSIL's newly-released Social Responsibility Report, www.bcbsil2015srr.com.

Highlights from this year's report include:

Employees volunteered nearly 60,000 hours for 1,500 community organizations throughout Illinois
BCBSIL invested $9.8 million in grants and sponsorships to nonprofit partners working to promote healthy bodies, healthy minds and healthy communities

"This year, BCBSIL is celebrating its 80th anniversary of serving communities throughout Illinois. We have a responsibility to help improve the lives of those in our communities and give back to the state we call home," said Maurice Smith, BCBSIL president. "We seek out and support programs that make a meaningful impact on people's health and wellness and we empower our employees to put their time and talents to work for the good of others."

One of BCBSIL's signature investments, the "Enhancing Care for Children with Asthma" Project, showed a 58 percent decrease in hospitalizations for individuals in Illinois diagnosed with asthma who received care at a participating clinic in the first two years of the program.[1]

Other highlights from the report:

BCBSIL's three Care Vans® provided 14,500 free immunizations and 2,275 other services
Year two of our sponsorship of Chicago's Divvy bike share program saw Divvy expand to 4,760 bikes resulting in 6.7 million miles ridden and 250 million calories burned

As in past years, the 2015 report was produced digitally, reducing environmental impact and enabling a more dynamic presentation of community partnerships through videos and social media integration. Readers can instantly share and comment on a specific page of the report through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or email the entire report to family, friends and colleagues.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
With over 8.1 million members, BCBSIL, a division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, is the largest health insurance company in Illinois. Begun 80 years ago, BCBSIL remains member owned rather than publicly traded and is committed to promoting the health and wellness of its members and its communities, fostering greater access to care, and working to lower the overall cost of care while improving health care quality and patient outcomes. For more information, please visit BCBSIL.com, visit our Facebook page or follow us www.twitter.com/BCBSIL.

[1] Based on assessment of claims data from Blue Cross and Blue Shield members receiving asthma care at least once from participating Illinois clinic locations and who were continuously enrolled from one year before the project to 12 months post intervention (3 years of continuous enrollment).

SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois