Evolution Benefits Benny(tm) Card Named Top 10 HR Product of the Year By Human Resource Executive Magazine

From among a record number of entries, Evolution Benefits Benny(tm) Card was chosen by Human Resource Executive magazine as one of the Top 10 Human Resource Products of 2002.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:
Elayne Cree
Cree Communications
843-388-1419 (8 am -- 8 pm Eastern Time)
843-412-8271 (Cellular -- anytime)
elayne@creecommunications.com

Donna Porritt
Evolution Health
860-678-3471 (8 am -- 6 pm Eastern Time)
dporritt@evhinc.com

Evolution Benefits Benny(tm) Card Named Top 10 Human Resource
Product of the Year
By Human Resource Executive Magazine

AVON, Conn., January 13, 2003 -- From among a record number of entries, Evolution Benefits Benny(tm) Card was chosen by Human Resource Executive magazine as one of the Top 10 Human Resource Products of 2002. Winners were chosen by the magazines editors because they demonstrated the best use of technology, [were] straightforward and easy to use, and answer[ed] a real need among HR professionals looking to simplify and streamline -- not complicate -- their function."
   The Benny Card, a debit-like MasterCard®, electronically accesses at the point of service the contributions set aside in health care flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health reimbursement accounts (HRAs) and transportation management accounts (TMAs), eliminating the need to pay twice, as well as most of the time and paperwork associated with securing reimbursements. Benny Card users simply present the card to any provider that accepts MasterCard. When the card passes through a card-swipe terminal the amount of eligible expense is automatically deducted from the appropriate account -- in real time. Use of the Benny Card increases flex plan participation rates by 20 to 40 percent (one large health plan increased participation by over 60 percent and a Fortune 100 employer by 200 percent) and significantly increases contribution levels as well.
   Commenting on the Benny Card, HR Executives Editor-in-Chief David Shadovitz says, Its nice to be able to recognize a product in the benefits category this year. Evolution clearly did its homework in developing the card." Indeed, the judges observed ... the Benny Card has made outstanding improvements to the [debit card] genre, including technology that offers 'real-time substantiation of payments by using merchant codes, partnerships with large pharmacy benefit managers and IRS-reviewed proprietary protocols based on a large-scale analysis of point-of-service cash payments. Especially noteworthy are ... that a single Benny Card can also be used for flexible
spending accounts, health reimbursement accounts, and transportation management accounts and service [is available] through the company Web site around the clock."

   Needless to say were gratified to have been recognized for all of the research, groundbreaking technology and hard work that went into making the Benny Card as easy, convenient and reliable as it is today," says Evolution Benefits Senior Vice President Donna Porritt. We also invested a lot of time and effort in our ASAP system (Automated Substantiation and Administration Process), which both substantiates transactions and manages the audit process, resulting in the industrys lowest percentage of receipt requests (6 percent). Were so confident of our ASAP system, we offer a guarantee to accept the liability should those of our clients who follow our protocols be penalized by the IRS for failure to properly substantiate their FSA transactions."
   The Benny Card was officially launched by Evolution Benefits, a division of Evolution Health, on January 1, 2002 when its first major contract took effect with Northeast Utilities, a Fortune 500 utility company based in Central Connecticut. Evolution Health became the first company to offer a combination FSA/HRA card which it launched with Humana Inc., the Louisville, Ky.-based managed care organization, on July 1, 2002. Since January 2002 Evolution has established TPA partnerships that provide Benny Card access to three million participants alone.
More information about Evolution Benefits and the Benny Card may be obtained at http://www.EvolutionBenefits.com.
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About Evolution Health
Evolution Health was founded in 2000 with a commitment to supporting the movement toward greater consumer choice in and responsibility for employee benefits. Its initial product, the debit-like Benny Card offered by the Evolution Benefits division, applies advanced payment technologies to flexible spending, health reimbursement and transportation management accounts, creating a bridge between todays benefit structures and the self-directed benefits movement. The company was created in part by the team that built Value Health, the nation's largest specialty managed care company covering over 70 million people in the early- and mid- 1990s. Led by Value Health Founder and CEO Robert E. Patricelli, Evolution Health has built a management team of seasoned professionals from the health insurance, managed care, third party administrator and information technology industries. In addition to Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard International, Evolution Healths Benny Card partners include WildCard Systems (Sunrise, Fla.), BANKFIRST (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and leading pharmacy benefit managers, such as Advance PCS, Medco Health and Express Scripts.