NASHVILLE, TN--(Marketwire - May 4, 2011) - HealthSpring, a leading Medicare Advantage plan, today announced it has donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross Neighbors in Need Fund to aid in the recovery efforts in Alabama after an estimated 160 tornadoes ravaged the area. HealthSpring has 196 employees in Alabama and 21,175 members in the North/Central Alabama region.
"In the wake of the devastating storms that hit parts of the Southeast in the past week, our thoughts and prayers go out to all who were affected," said Bob Dawson, president of HealthSpring of Alabama. "While none of the employees in our Birmingham office was killed or seriously injured, several of our employees have lost their homes or sustained serious damage to their homes, and many have family members who were affected. We wanted to act as quickly as possible to help them as well as our many members and others in the area."
HealthSpring presented the $10,000 donation to Billy Baxter, CEO of the Red Cross Neighbors in Need Fund of the Mid-Alabama Region. The company has also offered housing assistance to the employees whose homes were severely damaged or lost and provided additional aid in the form of gift cards and other donations. Individual employees have also reached out to volunteer to help their Alabama-area colleagues and other residents in their time of need.
"We are working diligently to create a plan for how to move forward," continued Dawson. "While we may not know the full extent of the damage for days, we will continue to reach out to employees and stand ready to help employees affected by these storms."
To date, the federal government has declared 36 Alabama counties as disaster areas. The Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) has reported 250 deaths and 2,219 injuries. More than 400,000 people are still without electricity, according to the latest report by AEMA. It is being called the worst U.S. natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed approximately 1,800 people.
Those interested in supporting the recovery efforts in Alabama may visit alredcross.org.
About HealthSpring
HealthSpring is based in Nashville, Tenn., and is one of the country's largest Medicare Advantage coordinated care plans. HealthSpring currently owns and operates Medicare Advantage plans in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, D.C. HealthSpring also offers a national stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan. For more information, visit www.healthspring.com. Media information is available at HealthSpring's press site: http://press.healthspring.com.