Union HealthShare Signs Multi-Year, Multi-Million Dollar Agreement with North Star Health

ATLANTA, Aug. 18, 2009 - North Star Health, a health care data analytics company providing risk, cost and care management solutions, recently signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement with Union HealthShare, an organization focused exclusively on the needs of Taft-Hartley Organizations and public employees, representing approximately 17 million members.

"We considered and evaluated a number of legacy vendors within the marketplace and selected Lumina(TM) from North Star Health. Lumina's unique ability to provide a robust solution that integrates analytics with prevention and disease management, was a key factor in our decision," says Peter Kaehler, President and CEO of Union HealthShare. "The Union HealthShare solution that includes Lumina(TM) will enable our members to gain control over their health care costs."

Effective immediately, Union HealthShare will roll out North Star Health's Lumina(TM). Groups will have access to their healthcare cost data and the power to utilize the product's predictive modeling capabilities, allowing unions to manage the effectiveness of their healthcare programs and achieve the same cost reductions that North Star Health's current clients are realizing.

"We are focused on helping union families - working families - reduce out of pocket healthcare expenses. This is like motherhood and apple pie," said Tom Ogdahl, Co-Founder of Union HealthShare and 56 year veteran working with Taft-Hartley trusts.

In addition to aligning with proposed health care legislation for preventive care and wellness, Lumina(TM) can analyze data across multiple states, multiple demographics and multiple organizations. The product will help Taft-Hartley Organizations promote health and be proactive with chronic disease treatment, which accounts for 75% of the costs of providing healthcare to its members.

"Based upon my work with the Taft-Hartley Organizations, Lumina(TM) offers the ideal solution to manage costs and make available the best coverage for their members," said Kenneth Thorpe, PhD, Executive Director, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease and North Star Health Advisory Board member. "Lumina(TM) provides the foundation for the organizations to align with proposed national healthcare reform. It is a 'need to have' rather than a 'nice to have' product that will drive both short term and long term ROI."

Paul Davis, MD, Founder and CEO, North Star Health, added, "We are very excited about working with Mr. Kaehler and his team. I am confident this opportunity will allow both companies the chance to demonstrate market leadership in this sector."

ABOUT UNION HEALTHSHARE

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Union HealthShare (www.unionhealthshare.org) works exclusively with Unions, Union Trusts, and public employees to offer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), utilizing union branded Visa cards with state of the art online management tools. In addition, the UHS Data Vault is a secure repository of aggregated member-based health data from multiple sources. This data is owned by the union trusts and can be compared with data from other unions, both locally and nationwide, to provide a view of the Local's healthcare spending with a broader perspective than is available when only looking at an individual Local's data.

ABOUT NORTH STAR HEALTH

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, North Star Health (www.northstarhealth.com) is a health care data analytics company providing risk, cost, and care-management solutions for health plans, TPAs, brokers, self-insured companies, wellness companies, disease management companies, provider networks, and benefits consulting groups. Lumina(TM) from North Star Health integrates wellness, preventive health, disease management and predictive health functionalities into one platform. It was developed in conjunction with nationally recognized health care policy expert and economist Dr. Ken E. Thorpe.

SOURCE North Star Health, Inc.