Regence BlueCross BlueShield Wins People's Voice Award for Online Consumer Campaign in the 14th Annual Webby Awards

PORTLAND, Ore., May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The 14th Annual Webby Awards named Regence BlueCross BlueShield's website, WhatsTheRealCost.org, as a People's Voice Winner in the category of Rich Media: Business to Consumer. More than a million people voted in the People's Voice Webby categories, and the site beat steep competition from companies that included Doritos® and NIKE.

The People's Voice win represents a collaborative effort between Regence BlueCross BlueShield and the agencies that developed the site, lead agency North and development partner unit9.

WhatsTheRealCost.org is a multi-faceted, online effort designed to inspire debate, discussion, and ultimately engagement and action by consumers in the transformation of the nation's health care system. As medical costs continued to rise higher than the rate of inflation, Regence developed WhatsTheRealCost.org in 2009 as part of a larger campaign to demonstrate how individual decisions impact health care costs for all. The site inspires consumers to ask questions about health care costs and to shop for medical care, just as they would for every other sector of the economy.

"Everyone has an important voice in the transformation of our nation's health care system, and this award underscores the power of a single individual when their voice is combined with others behind a common cause," said Mark Ganz, President and CEO of Regence.

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile websites. The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person judging academy whose members include Martha Stewart, R/GA's Chief Bob Greenberg, David Bowie, Arianna Huffington and Twitter's Biz Stone. A full list of both Webby Awards and People's Voice Awards winners can be found at: http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=14

"The Webby Awards honors the very best of the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. "The People's Voice award for the WhatsTheRealCost website is a testament to the skill, ingenuity and vision of its creators."

The 14th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 states. Regence will be honored at a star-studded ceremony hosted by B.J. Novak of NBC's "The Office" on June 14th in New York City.

About Regence

Regence is the largest health insurer in the Northwest / Intermountain Region, offering health, life and dental insurance. Regence serves more than 2.5 million members as Regence BlueShield of Idaho, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and Regence BlueShield (selected counties in Washington). Each health plan is a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Regence is committed to improving the health of our members and our communities, and to transforming our health care system. For more information, please visit www.regence.com or follow us on Twitter.

About The Webby Awards

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 14th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft Expression; AOL; YouTube; Pepsi; Aquent; HP; Yahoo!; Corbis; Tribal DDB Worldwide; East Media; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail; Museum of the Moving Image; Behance; Business Insider; Time Out New York; paidContent and The Guardian.

SOURCE Regence