WPS: Adding staff for five-year VA project

Contacts for WPS:

Ellen Foley

(608) 226-8089

ellen.foley@wpsic.com

Tom Enwright

(608) 216-2530

thomas.enwright@wpsic.com

Hiring eventually could reach 280 in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — WPS is doing a significant hiring wave for its Wausau office as part of a new program for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

WPS currently is a subcontractor for TriWest Healthcare Alliance of Phoenix for the Patient-Centered Community Care (PC3) program in 28 states. The partnership is expanding for implementation of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 (VACAA), which allows eligible veterans to receive health care in their communities rather than waiting more than 30 days for a VA appointment or traveling more than 40 miles to a VA medical facility.

As part of the new program, veterans enrolled with VA will receive a new Choice Card that allows them to seek care outside of VA under certain conditions. The massive mailing begins this month and will continue until January 2015.

For its part of the project, WPS will be issuing the Choice Cards, processing claims and providing customer service functions for the program for five years.

WPS expects to hire approximately 100 employees in Wausau in November for the Choice Card program. Hiring could reach 280 employees with about 250 of them in Wausau and the rest in Madison.

“WPS is growing in Wausau as a result of this new work on behalf of our veterans, who are among our closest customers,” said WPS President and CEO Mike Hamerlik. “We continuously look for great opportunities like this to obtain contracts to leverage our skills and add more jobs.”

“WPS welcomes the opportunity to work with TriWest in serving veterans as they obtain medical care through this important program,” said WPS Executive Vice President Brian Brugger. “We’re eager to add staff to accomplish this mission for the VA. This project complements other vital work we do to serve veterans through government contracts.”

About PC3

Patient-Centered Community Care (PC3) is a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) nationwide program that offers health care contracts to provide eligible veterans access to primary care; inpatient specialty care; outpatient specialty care; mental health care; limited emergency care; and limited newborn care for enrolled female veterans following the birth of a child.

Under PC3, VHA contracts to develop a network of providers who deliver the covered care. Care is available through PC3 when the local VA Medical Center cannot readily provide the needed care to veterans due to lack of available specialists, long wait times, geographic inaccessibility, or other factors.

About WPS

Founded in 1946, WPS is a nationally regarded government contractor and Wisconsin’s leading not-for-profit health insurer. The WPS Health Insurance division offers affordable individual health insurance, family health insurance, high-deductible health insurance, and short-term health plans, as well as flexible and affordable group plans and cost-effective benefit plan administration for businesses. The WPS Medicare division administers Part A and B benefits for millions of seniors in multiple states, and the WPS TRICARE division serves millions more members of the U.S. military and their families. In 2014, the international Ethisphere® Institute named WPS one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the fifth straight year. WPS is the only health insurance company to earn this distinction five times. For more information about WPS, visit http://www.wpsic.com.