The ALS Association Keith Worthington Chapter Names Insurance Executive As Chair Of Annual Event

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City CEO Tom Bowser will lead tenth annual Walk to Defeat ALS™

April 1, 2009

MISSION - The ALS Association Keith Worthington Chapter announced today that Tom Bowser, President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, will serve as the 2009 Corporate Recruitment Chair for its annual Walk to Defeat ALS™.  Mr. Bowser will host the corporate breakfast on Wednesday, June 10 from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Mission Hills Country Club, 5400 Mission Drive, Mission Hills, Kansas.

Mr. Bowser has been with Blue Cross and Blue Shield for more than 35 years, including 25 of those years in Kansas City.  Mr. Bowser was named President and Chief Executive Officer in July of 2001.  He is currently serving as Chairman of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association with nearly 102 million members and $300 billion in revenue nationwide.

Mr. Bowser agreed to serve as the 2009 Corporate Recruitment Chair for the ALS walk because he believes strongly in the idea of giving back to the community in which he lives and works.  Mr. Bowser has demonstrated that belief through the boards on which he has served including the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and Civic Council boards, the Kansas City Area Development Council and the KU Endowment Association.

2009 marks the tenth year for the walk which provides funding for research and local patient services programs.  Last year's walk raised more than $375,000 and this year organizers have set the goal at $410,000.  This year's walk will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2009 at Corporate Woods Park.

The corporate breakfast is an informative and motivational event designed to launch corporate participation in the 2009 Walk to Defeat ALS™.  At the breakfast, corporate leaders and key volunteers will explain services provided by the ALS Association and how companies can get involved.

Individuals interested in participating in the walk go online at www.walktodefeatals.org or call 913.648.2062, ext. 211.

About ALS
Commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is a progressive, degenerative fatal neuromuscular disease that can strike without warning.  Every day, 15 new cases of ALS are diagnosed within the United States and 15 people die from the disease.  Sixty-eight years have passed since Lou Gehrig's death from ALS at the age of 37, yet, there is still no known cause, cure or effective treatment for this devastating illness.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938.  BCBSKC provides health coverage to nearly one million residents in the greater Kansas City area, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and 30 counties in Northwest Missouri.  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

For more information on the company, visit its Web site at www.bcbskc.com.  Our mission:  to use our role as the area's leading health insurer to provide affordable access to healthcare and to improve the health and wellness of our members.