Jerry Reeves, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of HEREIU and Board Member of The Center for Health Value Innovation, Participates in White House Conference

ST. LOUIS & LAS VEGAS--(Business Wire)--
Jerry Reeves, M.D., chief medical officer, Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees International Union Welfare Fund(HEREIU), a multi-employer
Taft-Hartley Trust Fund helping to meet the healthcare needs of participants
working in the hospitality industry, participated in a recent White House
conference with President Obama regarding health care reform. HEREIU is a member
organization of the Center for Health Value Innovation (www.vbhealth.org), the
nation`s premier organization dedicated to establishing value and producing
evidence for sustainable health and financial improvement, and Dr. Reeves serves
as a member of the Center`s Board of Directors.

"The Center is honored to be represented by such an outstanding individual,
someone who has truly become an icon in value-based design," says Cyndy Nayer,
president and CEO of The Center. "The Fund is a leading example of the potential
for value-based benefit design, and Dr. Reeves is incredibly passionate about
sharing his vision."

Dr. Reeves notes, "Of course, I felt very fortunate to be invited to share our
experiences in lowering medical cost trends and improving health outcomes with
President Obama and his outstanding team of professionals devoted to reforming
health care. Each invited participant to the workforce innovators panel
demonstrated successful measures in the private sector that the President
believes should be more widely adopted for the country as a whole."

The Fund manages welfare benefits for employees in the restaurant and hotel
businesses, with 90,000 employees and 250,000 covered lives nationally. In 2004,
the Fund began implementing a value-based health pilot program in a West
Virginia HEREIU plan of 3,000 covered lives and now reports that total medical
cost trends dropped from 14.5 percent per year at baseline to less than four
percent the next two years - saving $2 million in the first year. Additionally,
within three months, more than 60 percent of participants in health coaching
raised their personal knowledge level of their body mass index (BMI), blood
pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol, and had made a visit to their doctor.

About The Center for Health Value Innovation

Launched in 2007, The Center for Health Value Innovation is a not-for-profit
(501c3) organization representing industry stakeholders committed to sharing the
evidence that value-based health designs improve health status and reduce health
cost inflation. Members include large and mid-size employers, health plans,
integrated delivery systems, self-funded unions, municipal and state
governments, medical management firms, pharmacy benefits management companies,
vendor organizations and others which benefit from analytic tools, educational
programs and collaborative connections to innovators in value-based health
design. Visit www.vbhealth.org.

Media:
CPR for The Center for Health Value Innovation
Jim Stroh, 201-641-1911 x18
Jstroh@cpronline.com

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