Accessible Health Care Information from WellPoint (Blue Cross/Blue Shield)

Posted on Updated on March 10, 2016

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This is a post about WellPoint, one of the largest health benefits companies in the United States.  Many Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are owned by WellPoint.  Anthem Blue Cross in California and Empire Blue Cross in New York are two examples. WellPoint offers braille and large print information to its blind members.  You can also get information on an audio CD or as an mp3 file if you are visually impaired. WellPoint is also working to make sure its websites and mobile applications can be used by people who are blind. Back to the post about WellPoint and Blue Cross, Blue Shield information.

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Do you know who runs your Blue Cross, Blue Shield or Anthem health insurance company? Maybe it’s WellPoint.

WellPoint is one of the leading health benefits companies in the United States. Earlier this year, WellPoint made a huge commitment to the accessibility of its digital and print information for people with disabilities. WellPoint is a Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee around the country and its accessibility initiative affects many Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and Anthem health insurance companies. Is your state covered?

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Blue Cross, Blue Shield Companies Covered by the WellPoint Accessibility Initiative

WellPoint is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and serves its members in the following capacities:

  • as the California Blue Cross licensee (Anthem Blue Cross)
  • as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for the following states
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Georgia
    • Indiana
    • Kentucky
    • Maine
    • Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area)
    • Nevada
    • New Hampshire
    • New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Blue Cross, Blue Shield or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only)
    • Ohio
    • Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.)
    • Wisconsin
  • through UniCare
  • the company also operates under the Anthem name in many of the states listed above.

WellPoint’s Accessibility Initiative

WellPoint is working to make its websites, mobile applications and print information accessible to people with visual impairments. The ability to independently read confidential health insurance information is critical in today’s world. WellPoint is a national leader in providing healthcare information in formats that blind people can read.

WellPoint has adopted the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA as its accessibility standard for all digital content. The standard applies to both WellPoint websites and mobile applications.

WellPoint companies are also providing alternative formats for information typically offered in standard print format. Wellpoint offers braille, large print, audio CDs, electronic documents and mp3 files to customers who cannot read standard print. Documents in these formats can be requested through the customer service number for any WellPoint healthplan.

More information about WellPoint’s accessibility information can be found on the Anthem Accessibility Information Page.

You can also read the press release WellPoint issued in February, 2014 to announce the accessibility initiative. Read the WellPoint press release now.

How to Give Feedback about WellPoint’s Accessibility Program

WellPoint’s Accessibility Information Page encourages member feedback:

We are trying to make this website as accessible as it can be for all of our visitors. If you have any problems accessing information on this website please let us know. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please call our technical support line at 1-866-755-2680. Members can also e-mail us by logging in and using the e-mail feature on the Customer Support page of this website. WellPoint Accessibility Information Page

WellPoint participated in Structured Negotiations to improve the accessibility and usability of its print and digital information. The Law Office of Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian of Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho worked on the Structured Negotiations with blind Blue Cross members in California. If you are a blind member of any of the WellPoint companies listed above, we welcome your feedback about the accessibility and usability of WellPoint information. Please visit the Contact page of LFLegal to find out how to reach us.