Blue Cross/Blue Shield's Big Wellness Plan

Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Sheild of Indiana has launched one of the most comprehensive health and wellness programs an insurer has produced. It's encouraging to see a big insurer go all-out for employee health and wellness.

The program was just announced yesterday, so it's way too early to know whether it will achieve its goal of controlling costs and improving outcomes. But it's billed as a plan to "comprehensively address preventive care, health improvement and care coordination."

There's not much new here, but the plan seems to package together an impressive array of popular cost-control wellness programs. Some details:

24/7 NurseLine

Future Moms maternity management service

ConditionCare program for chronic conditions. From the press release: "ConditionCare helps member manage . . .chronic health conditions, improve medical outcomes and productivity while delivering a 2.8:1 return on investment for employers." [Note the commonly cited nearly 3-to-1 ROI.}

MyHealth Coach for all family members, from nurses, dieticians and exercise physiologists.

MyHealth Advantage. Preventive care reminders for patients and automated doctor reminders about lower-cost treatment alternatives.

Worksite Wellness. On-site health screenings, health education seminars, flu vaccinations and stress management, and therapeutic massage.

MyHealth Record, an online PHR.

Anthem says the program is aimed at helping the 20 percent who are most at risk manage their conditions effectively, and supporting health and wellness for the other 80 percent.

Many people will be watching with the key question: Will all that investment pay off?