Media Advisory: Announcement of Initial Prize Design for Potential $10 Million Healthcare X PRIZE to Revolutionize U.S. Health System

Initial prize design with call for public comment to be shared at 6th Annual World Health Care Congress on April 14 in Washington, D.C.

• WHO/WHAT: Health care, wellness, academic and innovation thought-leaders will join Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO, The X PRIZE Foundation, and Angela F. Braly, President and CEO, WellPoint Inc. to announce - for public comment - an initial PRIZE design for a proposed $10+ Million Healthcare X PRIZE. This first-of-its kind competition will focus on reinventing the health care system in a bold, measurable and scientific fashion to enable dramatic improvement in health care value in the United States.
  
• WHEN: April 14, 2009 from 12:15pm - 1:00pm (EST)
  WHERE: Press Conference during the 6th Annual World Health Care Congress in the Washington 5, Exhibit Level Marriott Wardman Park Hotel - 2660 Woodley Road, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

The Prize is focused on improving health care value through optimal health. The proposed design will align and improve care within communities and proactively assist individuals in optimizing their health in a way that reduces overall costs. By setting a higher bar for good health based on better outcomes and an individual’s active participation, The X PRIZE Foundation, the WellPoint Foundation, and WellPoint, Inc. are striving to make health care dramatically more proactive, personalized and focused on engagement in health and vitality.
The initial competition design is the result of extensive research into health care market challenges and the identification of opportunities for improvement that could result from an incentivized competition.

The PRIZE design work was supported by a team of prominent health care providers, health care thought-leaders, academic and political advisors, including: Dr. Glenn Steele, CEO, Geisinger Health System; Dr. Jim Weinstein, director, Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice; Dr. Carol Diamond, managing director, Markle Foundation; Mark Litow, principal and consulting actuary, Milliman; Dr. Dean Ornish, president, Preventive Medicine Research Institute; Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School professor; Hon. Bill Bradley, former U.S. Senator; and Hon. Newt Gingrich, founder, Center for Health Transformation.

A panel discussion with Dr. Diamandis, Angela Braly, Hon. Bill Bradley and Hon Newt Gingrich will follow the announcement. The panel will be moderated by Susan Dentzer, editor in chief, Health Affairs. One-on-one interview opportunities can be scheduled upon request.

To listen in by conference call, please contact prcontact@xprize.org or 310-741-4884. Questions may also be submitted via Twitter @healthxprize or you can follow the event at #HXP

CREDENTIALS & INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
To request credentials and/or to schedule interviews with Dr. Peter Diamandis, CEO and Chairman, The X PRIZE Foundation, Angela Braly, President and CEO, WellPoint Inc., or one of the Healthcare X PRIZE advisors, please contact Arron Robinson at prcontact@xprize.org or (310) 741-4899.

For more information about the initial prize design or to comment on the draft guidelines, visit www.xprize.org/wellpoint