CoverMe Foundation - Connecting Communities with Healthcare Coverage

LARAMIE, Wyo. (June 10, 2008) – The CoverMe Foundation (CMF), a national nonprofit organization, has announced it is offering free, step-by-step assistance to uninsured consumers in identifying and applying for health care coverage as part of its mission to improve the overall health of Americans throughout the United States.

Consumers can access CMF’s services by visiting its Web sites or calling its toll-free numbers:

• For English: http://www.covermefoundation.org
1 (877) NSURME-1 (1-877-678-7631)
8 a.m. – 8 p.m. EST, Monday – Friday

• For Spanish: http://www.fundacioncubreme.org
1 (877) 8-CUBREME (1-877-828-2736)
8 a.m. – 8 p.m. EST, Monday – Friday

“We recognize that the application process can be confusing to many of the uninsured, and that is why we first educate and then assist the applicant via our facilitation expertise to gain access to our programs,” said The CoverMe Foundation President Alec Shea. “Our goal is long-term health, and we are delighted to serve our communities on a variety of levels in order to achieve it.”

The new outreach campaign is central to CMF’s mission to improve overall quality of life in the nation by closing the gap between America’s 47 million uninsured and the health care resources that are available to many of them.

In addition to the health care coverage assistance, CMF offers comprehensive health care information for often underserved groups, including the uninsured and underinsured, elderly and disabled, and children and pregnant women. It also provides information on prescription assistance programs and medical treatment programs.

CMF is funded by a $2.5 million grant from the WellPoint Foundation, which supports innovative programs that help cover the uninsured.

“Our efforts to connect uninsured individuals and families with the available health care coverage resources is only possible through the vision and support of the WellPoint Foundation and other organizations committed to addressing the health care concerns of Americans,” Shea said.

"We are proud to support the The CoverMe Foundation, an organization that is dedicated to improving the health of our communities and working with uninsured individuals and their families to actually get them covered," said Caz Matthews, president of the WellPoint Foundation, Inc.

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About The CoverMe Foundation
The CoverMe Foundation assists consumers in their efforts to locate and access health care coverage. It was conceived as an organization to improve the overall health of citizens in our local communities as well as throughout the United States. Drawing from community resources, government assistance and select corporate partnerships, the foundation strives to facilitate reductions in the number of the uninsured and to improve the overall quality of life in our nation.

About the WellPoint Foundation
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.

Click Here for Cover Me Foundation AA General Press Release

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