By Tim Bonfield
Enquirer staff writer

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has been honored by a national association for a program that has helped improve care for heart disease.

In Anthem's Midwest region, which includes Indiana and Ohio, the company's cardiac disease management program reports several health improvements:

• A 34 percent decrease in hospital admissions in 2003 for coronary artery disease for under-65 members in managed-care plans.

• A 43 percent reduction in hospital admissions for Ohio members with heart failure.

• 82 percent of members with heart failure reported that mailings from Anthem helped motivate them to manage their illness.

Anthem won an honorable mention in the National Exemplary Practice Award from America's Health Insurance Plans, an insurance industry association.