National Business Group on Health Honors 65 U.S. Employers with ‘Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles(TM)’ Awards

WASHINGTON, May 22 -- The National Business Group on Health issued the following news release:

The National Business Group on Health today honored 65 U.S. employers for their ongoing commitment to promoting healthy work environments and encouraging workers to live healthier lifestyles. The honored employers, including 12 first-time winners, were presented with "2013 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles(TM)" awards at the Business Group'sInstitute on Innovation in Workforce Well-being Leadership Summit held in Washington, DC.

Now in its ninth year, the Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles(TM) awards spotlight those employers that have responded to the urgent need to improve their employees' health, productivity and quality of life. The underlying goal of the program is to encourage all employers to take action.

Helen Darling, president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health, commented: "The level of interest and commitment that we are seeing employers demonstrate in health improvement programs is at an all-time high.

Employers all across the country and in all industries are looking for creative ways to promote a healthy work environment and encourage their employees to follow healthy lifestyles. They know that without these types of health improvement programs, their efforts to stem the rising costs of health care benefits may come up short. We applaud the companies that are being honored today."

"We are very proud to recognize this year's winning companies for their innovations and their leadership, which include 12 first-time honorees and five companies that have received our highest award for the last five years or more," said LuAnn Heinen, vice president of the National Business Group on Health, who has overseen the awards program since its inception in 2005.

"These employers are in the forefront when it comes to promoting healthy lifestyles for their employees and families. In fact, many companies are recognizing the importance of involving family members and have begun developing programs to encourage family member participation as well."

Winners of the 2013 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles(TM) awards were honored in one of two categories: Platinum, for established workplace well-being programs with measurable success and documented outcomes; and Gold, for making cultural and environmental changes and developing comprehensive programs that support employees' healthy lifestyle goals.

Additionally, Eaton and Johnson & Johnson were presented with Global Distinction awards in recognition of their efforts to enhance the physical, psychological and emotional health, well-being and productivity of global employees and their dependents.

The National Business Group on Health also presented awards to companies in three special areas. These include:

* Best Communication Tactics - Paychex, Inc.

* Best Family Engagement - Comcast Corporation

* Best Engagement of Special Populations - Hewlett-Packard Company

The winners in each category are:

PLATINUM

Aetna**

American Express

ARAMARK

Baptist Health South Florida**

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama

BP America

Cardinal Health

Carolinas HealthCare System

Cerner Corporation

Cigna**

Erie Insurance Group

Healthways

Hewlett-Packard Company

Humana

Johnson & Johnson

JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Kaiser Permanente

Mayo Clinic

McKesson Corporation

Medtronic, Inc.**

NextEra Energy, Inc.

Sprint

Unilever US, Inc.

UnitedHealth Group

UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) and UPMC Health Plan**

Visant Corporation

WellPoint, Inc.

GOLD

Accenture

American Specialty Health Incorporated

Assurant, Inc.

BD

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Campbell Soup Company

Capital One Financial Corporation*

Chesapeake Energy

Chrysler Group LLC

Compass Group

DTE Energy

Eaton*

Fidelity Investments*

Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System

Geisinger Health System

General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church

General Dynamics Electric Boat

General Mills

Health Care Service Corporation* Ingersoll-Rand Company

KeyBank

Life Technologies Corporation*

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company*

Paychex, Inc.

Pitney Bowes

Safeway Inc.*

State Farm(TM)

Sutter Health'sAlta Bates Summit Medical Center

Target

Texas Health Resources

Texas Instruments Incorporated

Union Pacific

Unum Vanderbilt University and Medical Center*

Walgreens*

Whirlpool Corporation*

Willis North America Inc.*

Zurich in North America*

* Denotes first time winner

** Denotes winning platinum honors at least five years

TNS C-prasannasahu 130523-4360005 61ChengTacorda