Health Benefits Firm Encourages Disease Prevention and Wellness

When American Specialty Health Inc. opened its doors in 1987, chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathy and massage therapy were still considered alternative forms of health care.

As the years passed, the origins of the complementary health care benefits organization began to shift into the mainstream, yet the company managed to expand into other forms of alternative health care as well as a national market.

Now, celebrating its 20th year, San Diego-based American Specialty Health is preparing to launch several more of its online health education programs by the end of this year. For 2006, the company reported revenues of $128 million and more than 13 million members across the nation.

George DeVries, founder and chief executive officer of ASH, sees online personal health improvement programs as the up-to-the-minute focus in health care.

ASH is a parent company for its eight wholly owned subsidiaries: American Specialty Health Plans of California Inc., American Specialty health insurance Co., Healthy Roads Inc., American Specialty Health Networks of South Dakota Inc., American Specialty Health IPA of New York Inc., American Specialty Health Clearinghouse Inc., American Specialty Health Systems Inc., and American Specialty Health ODS of New Jersey Inc.

When DeVries was appointed to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Policy in 2000, he heard about a study where a strict vegetarian diet, stress management and walking an hour a day led to an actual reversal of heart disease.

Wellness Web Site

From that point, the idea for ASH’s first online venture, www.healthyroads.com, was born. The Web site provides wellness, weight management, smoking cessation and fitness benefits to health plans under big names like Kaiser Permanente, PacifiCare and Health Net. The company also initiated employer-sponsored, telephone-based personal health improvement and weight management programs.

“It was a big change for personal health,” DeVries said. “It increasingly supports the individual. It empowers them with tools and knowledge that’s going to create a large impact.”

In January 2008, ASH will launch www.fitnesscoach.com, a program designed to customize an exercise plan and track an individual’s progress. In January this year, ASH also started www.silverandfit.com, a plan for healthy aging through fitness programs. Silver