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bswift Selected as Technology Provider
for "Utah Health Exchange"

State of Utah's Online Health Insurance Marketplace to Serve as a Model for National Health Care Reform

Chicago, Ill – (July 22, 2009) – bswift, a national leader in employee benefits technology, has been selected by the State of Utah to provide online health plan enrollment and administration technology for the "Utah Health Exchange," an Internet portal that is the cornerstone of Utah’s approach to health system reform. The "Exchange" is the result of state legislation passed into law in late 2008 that mandated the creation of a health insurance "marketplace" that connects consumers to a single shopping point where they can evaluate insurance options in a standardized format and execute informed purchasing decisions. This consumer-centric, employer-financed model is at the center of the numerous federal health reform options under consideration today.

In the first phase of the Exchange’s implementation, bswift will help create the "defined contribution" model for small employers (2 to 50 employees). In this model, employers define a specific dollar amount to contribute to their employees’ health insurance premiums and then employees can "shop" at the Exchange from a menu of plans offered by participating insurers. This model enhances private competition and transparency in the health care system by giving employees the necessary information and purchasing power to make informed health insurance choices. It also offers relief to employers who will no longer bear the full burden of administering a health plan for their employees.

bswift's highly flexible and user-friendly technology is ideally suited to the Exchange's model because it can present consumers with side-by-side comparisons of plan options and costs with "drill down" details and links to forms and documents all in one location and at the “point of purchase." It can also handle the numerous administrative complexities raised by this approach, including the transmission of electronic feeds to multiple carriers and the funding of health insurance premiums from multiple sources such as the government or a spouse’s employer.

bswift was chosen by the State of Utah after a rigorous 12-month evaluation of numerous technology vendors. The Chicago-based company was selected based on its 10+ years of experience in health insurance technology, its established electronic (EDI) interfaces with carriers in Utah and across the country, and its intuitive, configurable technology. bswift will deliver a full-service, health benefits Web portal in Fall, 2009, in time for the busy open enrollment season in November.

"bswift is extremely excited to participate in health care reform in Utah and to be part of a practical, viable solution for the future," says Rich Gallun, CEO of bswift. "We started bswift over 10 years ago to help streamline and transform the health insurance marketplace and we are very proud to be selected by the State of Utah for this important mission. Given the discussions going on at a national level, we look forward to helping make Utah a successful model of an efficient, market-based solution for the consumer-centric, employer-financed purchasing of health insurance."

About bswift
bswift offers software and services that streamline Human Resources and benefits administration. More than 5,250 employers utilize bswift’s Web-based, state-of-the-art technology to significantly reduce administrative costs, eliminate time-consuming paperwork, and enable more strategic HR. For more information, visit www.bswift.com.

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