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Jopari Solutions Lauds California DWC $2.8 Billion EPayment Savings Recommendations Electronic Transactions Expert Sees Cost/Benefit Disclosures As Paper Conversion Tipping Point in Workers’ Compensation

Concord, CA. — August 25, 2004 — Jopari Solutions, Inc., a foremost provider of integrated transaction processing services for insurance payers, voiced support today for the administrative efficiency improvement report prepared for the California Division of Workers’ Compensation by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation. The report recommends initiation of an electronic payment system to reduce transaction costs of paper checks.

The recommendations, prepared for submission to Governor Schwarzenegger, call for legislation mandating electronic benefit payments and medical transactions to reduce overall system costs by $2.8 Billion over the next five years. CHSWC estimated that workers’ compensation payers will save $10.00 per transaction in direct costs alone by switching to electronic payments. The Commission unanimously approved the report at its August 19th meeting in San Francisco.

“We congratulate CHSWC for promoting modern business tools to reduce the workers’ compensation cost burden for California employers,” said Kate Bennett, M.D., Vice President of Jopari Solutions. “The Commission’s vote to submit electronic transaction recommendations and proposed legislation to the Governor emphasizes how critically important paper conversion strategies are at this time for insurers and self insurers in California.”

Added Dr. Bennett: “While the direct administrative savings indicated by CHSWC are impressive, our metrics show even greater per-transaction savings. Electronic payments also reduce a number of indirect costs payers are burdened with, including payment inquiry handling, duplicate check runs and – very significantly -- risk of fraud. For these reasons we believe payers should feel a heightened sense of urgency to migrate away from paper bills and manual payments.”

Recent reforms in California and other states notwithstanding, insurance executives are aware that while they cannot control external cost drivers, they can take steps to lower their operational costs. Although innovators already are automating their payments, the CHSWC report gives every insurer, self insurer and employer in California the official rationale they need to procure modern electronic payments services.

“The Commission’s savings numbers are good to see and reinforce the strategic direction we’ve already taken to cut our paper check expenses by making payments electronically”, said Jeff Sandford, Chairman and CEO of JT2, a prominent California third party administrator. “We’re automating end-to-end, both bill and payment workflow, to leverage competitive advantage in terms of efficiency and pricing. Also, receiving bills and disbursing payments electronically delivers enhanced service levels for our clients.”

About Jopari Solutions, Inc.

Jopari Solutions, Inc. (Jopari), with corporate offices in Concord, CA., is a foremost domestic supplier of advanced disbursement services for insurance payers. Jopari’s total disbursement solutions involve end-to-end enterprise payment and remittance processing. Jopari's services suite (Jopari Pay™) combines electronic funds transfer (EFT), custom print and mail options and global debit/stored value card services. Jopari Pay™ optimizes timely delivery of payments, with matched/collated EOB/ERAs where applicable. Jopari allows payers to control all aspects of payment workflow via secure client portals, with the regulatory compliance required to compete effectively in today’s electronic commerce environment. By delivering sustainable high return-on-investment as a business process partner, Jopari Solutions enables its clients to redirect valuable human and capital resources toward their core competencies and strategic business goals. (www.jopari.com)

Jopari Solutions, Inc. Press Contact
John Roberts
Senior VP of Marketing
Office : (925) 459-5218
Email : info@jopari.com

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