WellPoint's Jai Bills Recipient of National Leadership Institute Award

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

WellPoint WLP announced that Jai Bills, has been selected by the National Eagle Leadership Institute (NELI) as this year's recipient of the CareerFOCUS Eagle Award for his leadership in forward thinking. As one of corporate America's highest accolades in executive leadership achievement, the award salutes professionals who set a higher standard of leadership in both their business and community involvements.

Bills is WellPoint's Vice President for InterPlan and National Account Planning where he is responsible for managing relationships with Blue Cross Blue Shield plans across the country. In addition, Bills is responsible for strategic planning initiatives for WellPoint's National Accounts Team. He also serves as an executive sponsor of PRIDE, WellPoint's African-American associate resource group.

“I am honored to be recognized by the National Eagle Leadership Institute with this award,” said Bills. “At WellPoint our affiliated health plan members are our priority and I am pleased to be part of an organization that shares my commitment to excellence, attention to detail and the ability to deliver positive results that will help improve the lives of those we serve.”

The National Eagle Leadership Institute^® (NELI) is a leadership development network for culturally diverse professionals and college students. The Institute's programs help recognize, recruit, and retain professionals who set a higher standard of leadership.

About WellPoint, Inc.

At WellPoint, we believe there is an important connection between our members' health and well-being—and the value we bring our customers and shareholders. So each day we work to improve the health of our members and their communities. And, we can make a real difference since we have more than 33 million people in our branded health plans, and approximately 64 million people served through our subsidiaries. As an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, WellPoint serves members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), and Wisconsin. In a majority of these service areas, WellPoint's plans do business as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Empire Blue Cross (in the New York service areas). WellPoint also serves customers throughout the country as UniCare and in certain California, Arizona and Nevada markets through our CareMore subsidiary. Our 1-800 CONTACTS, Inc. subsidiary offers customers online sales of contact lenses, eyeglasses and other ocular products. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com.

About the NELI Award: The National Eagle Leadership Institute^® (NELI) is a leadership development network for culturally diverse professionals and college students. NELI was launched in 1995 in response to corporate America's increasing focus on leadership and diversity in the workplace. The Institute's programs help recognize, recruit, and retain professionals who set a higher standard of leadership.

About the CareerFOCUS Eagle Award. The Eagle Award was launched in 1993 by CareerFOCUS Magazine to recognize outstanding leadership within the trenches of corporate America. Recipients mirror the magazine's readership, which targets Black/African-American and Hispanic/Latino professionals who practice a higher standard of leadership.