Care Choices Partners With Subimo to Offer Web-based Tools for Consumers

‘Coverage Advisory Tool’ available for Open Enrollment

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Dec. 13, 2005— As insurance coverage changes in an effort to control health care costs, consumers are being asked to take a more active role in the cost and decisions about their health care. That’s why Care Choices has partnered with Subimo to offer a powerful, comprehensive suite of Web-based tools that consumers can use to compare benefit plans, research health conditions, treatments and cost estimates. Subimo was recently selected by BusinessWeek readers as the “Best of the Web” for online health care decision-support web sites.

The Web-based tools will be implemented in two phases: the Coverage Advisor™ is now available to help consumers decide which type of health plan suits their needs best. Beginning in January 2006, Care Choices will introduce additional tools, including Health Care Advisor™, Hospital Advisor™, PharmaAdvisor™, and A.D.A.M. Health Tools.

“Consumers are becoming more savvy when it comes to seeking information to help them with their health care needs,” said Laurie Westfall, chief operations officer, Care Choices. “With the growing trend toward consumer-directed health care plans (CDHPs), Health Savings Accounts, and an increasing amount of complex medical information in general, these tools will help to organize complex information into easy-to-read reports. We’re thrilled to offer these powerful tools to help people make important health care decisions, and as a complement to our new CDHP products.”

Coverage Advisor™
The Coverage Advisor is currently available on our website. With Coverage Advisor, consumers can enter their family’s health status and get an estimate of health services needed and the associated range of costs for the coming year based upon predictive modeling. The tool allows consumers to better understand their health care expenses and out-of-pocket costs that can be funded by consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) options such as flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, or health savings accounts. The Coverage Advisor complements Care Choices consumer-directed health plan offerings and will help consumers make important decisions at open enrollment time.

Early in 2006, Care Choices will phase in the expanded version of Coverage Advisor for employer-specific branding or customization. The site will reflect all competitive options for a particular Employer Group and will be accessible through a secure portal.

Healthcare Advisor™
Beginning January 2006, the Healthcare Advisor will be available to Care Choices HMO and PPO members who login through Care Choices secure, online member portal. As part of the Healthcare Advisor, Care Choices will offer the Hospital Advisor™, PharmaAdvisor™ and the Treatment Cost Advisor™.

The Healthcare Advisor enables consumers to learn about treatment costs and options, and budget for existing and future health care needs. Members who use these tools will have a much clearer picture of average regional costs (based on national data) for primary care visits, specialist visits, diagnostic and other medical services. Cost estimates are derived from national claims databases and use a sound statistical methodology.

Hospital Advisor™
Using the Hospital Advisor, which will be available in both English and Spanish, members can compare hospitals based on their own criteria, such as reputation, quality and results-of-care for their particular condition. The tool is populated with data from various sources, such as patient safety standards from LeapFrog, and quality indicators from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

PharmaAdvisor™
The PharmaAdvisor will arm members with a knowledge tool for drug comparison, including generics, major brands, therapeutic alternatives and adverse drug reactions. A unique, side-by-side comparison of side effects and the role and actions of different classes further arms consumers with actionable data.

A.D.A.M. Health Tools
Other tools that will be integrated with the Healthcare Advisor include A.D.A.M.’s comprehensive medical encyclopedia, health risk assessments and care guides.

A.D.A.M.’s Health Illustrated Encyclopedia is a comprehensive, continuously updated knowledge base that will be available in both English and Spanish. A.D.A.M. uses consumer-friendly language and includes information about diseases and conditions, symptoms, injury, treatment options, medical tests, surgical procedures, poisoning, nutrition, drug information and more. High-quality medical illustrations, photographs and diagrams allow users to visualize a variety of medical conditions, procedures and treatment, providing an unsurpassed educational experience. A.D.A.M. content is intuitively organized and allows users to easily find the topic that interests them most.

A.D.A.M.’s step-by-step Care Guides will help members with chronic conditions take control of their health and reduce their risk of poor outcomes. Care Guides are written for common ailments such as high blood pressure, type 1 diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, allergies, and others. These guides use a blend of illustrations, consumer friendly text and engaging animations to explain the topic.

A.D.A.M.'s Health Risk Assessments include 16 comprehensive tools that give expert health and wellness recommendations based on easy-to-use interactive quizzes. The interactive assessment engine uses reactive logic to guide users through a series of questions that evaluate their health and lifestyle and provide custom results and recommendations. Related links also allow users to find out more about the topic and their personalized results.

A.D.A.M. demonstrates its commitment to providing trustworthy information through its leadership position with both Hi-Ethics and URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC’s accreditation program is the first of its kind, requiring compliance with 53 standards of quality and accountability, verified by independent audit. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services.

About Care Choices
Care Choices is a health benefits management company and a subsidiary of Trinity Health, one of the nation’s leading providers of health care services. Since 1986, Care Choices has been providing quality health care coverage to thousands of members throughout Michigan. The Care Choices suite of products includes Care Choices HMO, Care Choices PPO, Preferred Choices PPO and consumer-directed plans. Care Choices offers a broad, fully integrated network of physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals all sharing a strong commitment to improving the health status of the communities it serves by delivering effective and affordable health care. Care Choices HMO maintains the highest rating available of Excellent by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Care Choices HMO was the top-rated commercial health plan in Michigan and among the top 10 in the nation according to “U.S. News & World Report/NCQA America’s Best Health Plans, 2005.”

About Subimo
Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Subimo, LLC licenses a suite of decision tools which provide a unique combination of data, content and personalized, interactive models so consumers can easily select insurance coverage, fund their tax preferred accounts, determine costs for medical services, and select hospitals, drugs and physicians. Everyone saves money when consumers have better information and can make better choices. Nearly 60 million Americans have access to Subimo's tools through their insurance company or employer. For more information, visit www.subimo.com or call 888-SUBIMO-1.