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Blue Shield of California First Health Plan to Offer Innovative Blue Zones Challenge™ App to Members

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Blue Zones offerings help members live longer and happier through Blue Shield’s award-winning Wellvolution platform, improving health outcomes for members with holistic care solutions.

OAKLAND, Calif., July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Blue Shield of California members now have access to the Blue Zones Challenge™ app, a first-of-its-kind program offered by a health plan to help its customers emulate sustainable, holistic lifestyle habits of people in the blue zones regions around the world that live longer, healthier, and happier lives. These regions were identified by Blue Zones founder, Dan Buettner, who has spent over 25 years researching the cultures of the world’s longest living populations.

Popularized in the Emmy Award-winning Netflix docuseries “Live to 100: Secrets of Blue Zones”, Blue Zones principles focus on goals including daily movement, socialization, and thoughtful food choices inspired by the daily habits of people living in blue zones regions.

The app is now available to Blue Shield members following a successful pilot program where 99% of the more than 1,000 participants self-reported improvement in their well-being.

Blue Shield members can access the app through the nonprofit health plan’s digital lifestyle medicine platform, Wellvolution, at no additional cost. For the last five years, Wellvolution has offered a suite of programs that address mental health, diabetes, hypertension, weight management, musculoskeletal health, and tobacco cessation. The addition of the Blue Zones Challenge app creates a new category of program focused on improving whole-person health and longevity, rather than a solution to address a specific chronic condition.

“With the Blue Zones Challenge app, members can not only build sustainable habits relating to healthy eating and natural movement, but also build personal connections and community,” said Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi, senior director of Lifestyle Medicine, Blue Shield of California. “We are in the midst of a nationwide loneliness crisis, which impacts both the mind and the body, so we are thrilled to provide a solution that emphasizes healthy living, including community building.”

Upon downloading the Blue Zones Challenge app, Blue Shield members will complete assessments regarding longevity, happiness, nutrition and purpose, set up their surroundings to aid in seamless healthy habits, and write their personal purpose statement. From there, members will track Blue Zones activities daily – examples include eating a cup of beans, going on a walk, and spending 30 minutes on a hobby. Each completed activity has a point value, with the goal of hitting 400 points per week. The app encourages activity outside of the phone screen – improving social connections and one’s surroundings by completing these simple tasks.

“The Blue Zones Challenge app is evidence-based and science backed,” said Ben Leedle, chief executive officer of Blue Zones. “By working with Blue Shield of California to offer the app to members at no additional cost, we can help Californians build community and live happier, healthier, and less stressed lives through simple changes to their lifestyle and diet habits.”

Members can go to Wellvolution.com/BlueZones to sign in or create a new account to get started with The Blue Zones Challenge app, which is currently available to all fully insured individual and family plan members, as well as Administrative Services Only (ASO) groups who buy Wellvolution.

About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. The health plan is a tax paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with more than 4.8 million members, over 7,100 employees and more than $25 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $77 million to the Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last three years to have an impact on California communities.

For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com

Or follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook.

About Blue Zones
Blue Zones employs evidence-based ways to help people live better, longer. The company’s work is rooted in explorations and research done by founder and National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner in blue zones regions around the world, where people live extraordinarily long and/or happy lives. The original research and findings were released in Buettner’s bestselling books The Blue Zones Solution, The Blue Zones of Happiness, The Blue Zones, Thrive, Blue Zones Kitchen, and The Blue Zones Challenge—all published by National Geographic books. An Emmy Award-winning docuseries, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, was released on Netflix in 2023. Using original Blue Zones research, Blue Zones works with cities and counties to make healthy choices easier through permanent and semi-permanent changes to our human-made surroundings. Participating communities have experienced double-digit drops in obesity and tobacco use and have saved millions of dollars in healthcare costs.

CONTACT:

Kelly Nuckols

Blue Shield of California        

510-607-2359

media@blueshieldca.com     

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SOURCE Blue Shield of California

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BASX Hosts Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New State-of-the-Art Weld Shop

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REDMOND, Ore., Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — BASX (“BASX” or the “Company”), a leader in the manufacturing of high-efficiency data center cooling solutions, cleanroom systems, and custom HVAC systems, is proud to announce the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newly completed 36,000-square-foot weld shop. The Redmond Chamber of Commerce performed the ribbon cutting on September 18th, 2024, at BASX headquarters.

The weld shop will create significant job opportunities in the Central Oregon region, with the capacity to fill an additional 30 welding positions. Positions range from entry-level to experienced roles, with professional opportunities in various growing departments within the Company.

“This new facility is a major investment not just in our company, but in the future of Central Oregon,” said Dave Benson, AAON VP and BASX President. “We can now deliver even higher levels of quality and efficiency while providing more job opportunities for the community. We’re proud to support local manufacturing growth and look forward to seeing the impact this expansion will have on both BASX and the region.”

The new shop marks a major expansion in the Company’s production capabilities, introducing state-of-the-art welding technology within a climate-controlled environment. Equipped with advanced air filtration systems, including an AAON make-up air unit and multiple air scrubbers, the shop ensures exceptional air quality for its workers. The space also features two 5-ton overhead cranes and six ½-ton cantilever jib cranes, allowing for efficient movement of materials across the facility.

A key highlight of the facility is its cutting-edge tube laser, capable of precision cutting and profiling round and square tubes, as well as C-channel and I-beam profiles up to 27 feet in length. Additionally, a 75-foot-long dual-zone robotic welding cell is scheduled to be installed and operational in early 2025, enabling the welding of large subassemblies up to 10 tons.

The shop’s innovative capabilities will support the Company’s growth and solidify its position for ongoing expansion. In addition to the 30 new welding jobs, BASX is actively hiring across various departments to support its continued success. To learn more about available positions and apply, visit the BASX careers page at www.basxsolutions.com/careers.

About BASX
Founded in 2014 in Central Oregon, BASX is an industry leader in the manufacturing of high-efficiency data center cooling solutions, cleanroom systems, custom HVAC systems, and modular solutions. Acquired by AAON in 2021, BASX continues to focus on quality, innovation, and state-of-the-art technology. The Company is proud to display the Made-in-America emblem on all its products. For more information, please visit www.basx.com.

Contact Information
Christina Lattanzio
Marketing Manager
(918) 508-9272
Email: Marketing@basx.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/basx-hosts-ribbon-cutting-ceremony-for-new-state-of-the-art-weld-shop-302253745.html

SOURCE AAON

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NASA Sets Coverage for Astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, Crewmates Return

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, will depart from the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft, and return to Earth.

Dyson, Chub, and Kononenko will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Prichal module at 4:37 a.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 23, heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 8 a.m. (5 p.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

NASA’s live coverage of return and related activities will stream on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

A change of command ceremony also will stream on NASA platforms at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22. Kononenko will hand over station command to NASA astronaut Suni Williams for Expedition 72, which begins at the time of undocking.

Spanning 184 days in space, Dyson’s mission includes covering 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft launched March 23, and arrived at the station March 25, with Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

Kononenko and Chub, who launched with O’Hara to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft last September, will return after 374 days in space and a trip of 158.6 million miles, spanning 5,984 orbits.

Dyson spent her fourth spaceflight aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, and departs with Kononenko, completing his fifth flight into space and accruing an all-time record 1,111 days in orbit, and Chub, who completed his first spaceflight.

After returning to Earth, the three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Dyson will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Kononenko and Chub will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.

NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Sunday, Sept. 22
10:15 a.m. – Expedition 71/72 change of command ceremony begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.

Monday, Sept. 23
12:45 a.m. – Hatch closing coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.

1:05 a.m. – Hatch closing

4 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.

4:37 a.m. – Undocking

6:45 a.m. – Coverage begins for deorbit burn, entry, and landing on NASA+ and the agency’s website.

7:05 a.m. – Deorbit burn

8 a.m. – Landing

For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA is focusing more resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of Artemis in preparation for future human missions to Mars.

Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

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SOURCE NASA

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Global claims guidance leader EvolutionIQ joins as CALI’s inaugural Life Partner

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NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — US-based EvolutionIQ, a global leader in claims guidance technology, has signed on as the Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI)’s first Life Partner as part of its corporate partner program.

The CALI Partner Program is designed to foster collaboration and create a connected ecosystem of industry experts.

CALI Life Partners share the industry’s mission to make life insurance accessible, understandable and trusted. They are companies that support Australian life insurers to help Australians and their families have peace of mind about their future so they can live in the most healthy, confident and secure way.

“We are pleased to welcome EvolutionIQ as CALI’s inaugural Life Partner. The CALI Partner Program plays an important role in connecting our members to the latest innovators, like EvolutionIQ, that can move their businesses forward,” said CALI CEO Christine Cupitt.

“We want to work closely with each of our partners to strengthen and support the life insurance industry to deliver better customer experiences for millions of Australians on their best and worst days.”

Headquartered in New York, EvolutionIQ has expanded significantly since 2019. Its clients include major insurance carriers such as Sun Life, Reliance Matrix and Principal Financial. Their AI-powered software makes insurance claims processes more personalised, fair and cost-effective so that more people can recover faster and return to work.

“We are committed to supporting the Australian life insurance ecosystem and being a CALI Life Partner enables us to specialise our products to meet the dynamic needs of the Australian markets,” said EvolutionIQ’s Co-CEO, Mike Saltzman.

“Our partnership with CALI means we can contribute to and shape customer experiences in Australia, and ultimately help more people return to health and a livelihood sooner.”

About EvolutionIQ
EvolutionIQ pioneered Claims Guidance in 2019. Its explainable AI guides insurance claims professionals to their highest potential impact claims, improving the claimant experience and delivering better claim outcomes to claimants, carriers and their customers. EvolutionIQ serves the group disability, individual disability and workers’ compensation markets worldwide. EvolutionIQ’s AI native products have been adopted by 70% of the top 15 U.S. disability carriers and a growing list of workers’ compensation carriers. The New York-based company employs 185 staff across the United States, Europe and Australia. For more information, visit evolutioniq.com and follow the company on LinkedIn.

About CALI
We support Australians to make informed choices about their future and help them live in a healthy, confident and secure way over their lifetime.

Our members’ products and services give people peace of mind when making important decisions and provide a financial safety net during life’s biggest challenges.

We advocate for national policy settings that expand Australians’ access to the life insurance protection that suits them when they need it most.

CALI represents all life insurers and reinsurers in Australia. The Australian life insurance industry is today a $26.4billion industry, employing thousands of Australians and paying billions of dollars of benefits each year.

To view CALI’s corporate partners visit www.cali.org.au/about-us/#our-partners

For more information, visit www.cali.org.au

Media Contact
Jason Kapler
Vice President of Marketing
EvolutionIQ
(917) 740-5608
Press@evolutioniq.com

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/global-claims-guidance-leader-evolutioniq-joins-as-calis-inaugural-life-partner-302253427.html

SOURCE EvolutionIQ

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