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BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA EXPANDS VIRTUAL BLUE PROGRAM, BRINGING $0 OUT-OF-POCKET VIRTUAL CARE BENEFIT TO 260,000 MORE MEMBERS

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Expansion will more than double program enrollment; members get unlimited virtual primary, behavioral health, and specialist visits with $0 out-of-pocket costs and often same-day access.

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Blue Shield of California today announced a significant expansion of its flagship virtual care benefit, Virtual Blue, advancing the nonprofit health plan’s commitment to accessible, affordable, high-quality healthcare. 

Beginning January 2027, the Virtual Blue benefit will be included in fully insured preferred provider organization (PPO) plans for employers with 101-3,000 employees and certain individual and family plans.* The expansion will make Virtual Blue available to an additional 200,000 mid-size employer PPO members and 60,000 Individual and Family Plan members, increasing total enrollment in plans with the Virtual Blue program benefit from 150,000 to more than 410,000.

“Virtual Blue is a reflection of our commitment to listening to the people we serve,” said Jigar Shah, chief marketing and strategy officer at Blue Shield of California. “Our members told us they wanted care that was easier to access, more personalized, and more affordable. That’s exactly what we’ve built, and we’re excited to continue expanding it.”

Launched in 2023 with Accolade (now Transcarent) and TeleMed2U, Virtual Blue provides access to integrated care, available day and night, including evenings and weekends. Services include virtual primary care, behavioral health, specialist care, and support from a dedicated health coach, who helps members manage follow-ups, referrals, labs, and in-person care when needed or preferred. 

Virtual visits through Virtual Blue come with $0 out-of-pocket costs. Members can typically access same-day or next-day appointments for primary healthcare — significantly faster than California’s average 10-day wait for in-person care — enabling earlier intervention and better health outcomes.

Integrated, quicker care, at no cost — regardless of zip code

Virtual Blue includes a full suite of virtual services with $0 out-of-pocket costs for virtual visits:

Primary care, including diagnosis and treatment for preventive care, general health, and internal medicineBehavioral and mental healthcare, including access to licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), and marriage and family therapists (MFT) in all 50 states. No referrals required, with unlimited virtual talk therapy for members ages 3 and upSpecialist care, with 20 specialties including dermatology, cardiology, psychology, psychiatry, and access to specialists nationwideDay and night urgent care

Virtual Blue connects members with experienced, highly trained doctors — educated at top U.S. medical schools and trained in virtual care. Members can choose providers based on preferences such as gender, race, language, and experience. 

In post-visit surveys by Blue Shield members, Virtual Blue’s virtual physicians earned a Post-Visit Provider Satisfaction score of 91 out of 100 in 2025 — indicating extremely high member satisfaction.

A smarter, more affordable solution for employers and members

Compared to equivalent membership without Virtual Blue, Virtual Blue utilization has delivered a 7–10% lower overall cost of care, averaging $468 in employer savings per member annually.

A recent assessment of Virtual Blue also found emergency room visits were reduced by more than 10%, compared to equivalent membership without Virtual Blue

Additionally, 60% of members surveyed report they would have used higher-cost care, such as urgent care or the emergency room, or delayed care altogether without Virtual Blue.

With convenient access to virtual care, Virtual Blue can also be especially valuable for employers in provider shortage areas, organizations with geographically dispersed teams, and those seeking more flexible, modern care models. The model can also help members stay connected to care during environmental-related disruptions, such as wildfires or hurricanes, while reducing environmental impacts.

Improving health outcomes through better access

Through lowering the financial barrier to care and improving access, the model is also improving outcomes:

More than half of members who use Virtual Blue report at least one chronic condition — which can mean more frequent visits with doctors to meet their higher-touch needs — underscoring the need for consistent, coordinated care to manage health and prevent complications. Members with chronic conditions account for 74% of total virtual care utilization.85% of virtual primary care visits through Virtual Blue include behavioral health screenings, reflecting a whole-person approach to care. Chronic and behavioral health conditions can compound one another, making early identification and support important to improving overall health outcomes.

“Many people delay care due to cost, long wait times, transportation challenges, or difficulty finding the right provider,” said Dr. Carol Koeble, senior medical director at Blue Shield of California, who provides clinical leadership for the Virtual Blue program. “Virtual Blue removes those barriers, making care more convenient, comfortable, and affordable. Earlier, more consistent access leads to better long-term outcomes.”

For more information and our latest virtual care news, visit Virtual Blue.

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 taxpaying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with nearly 6 million members, 6,800 employees, and more than $28 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 $60 million to 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

* Mid-size employer PPO members are defined as members enrolled through Blue Shield’s Middle Markets segment, which serves fully insured employers with 101-3,000 employees. Individual and Family Plans with Virtual Blue starting in January 2027 are the Silver 1850 PPO, Silver 2800 HDHP PPO, and Bronze 7250 PPO, which can be purchased only through Blue Shield.

Data is based on the most recent available information, including member usage and satisfaction data from 2023 and 2024 analyzed by Blue Shield of California’s Data Insights team and reviewed by Blue Shield’s Actuarial team, as well as Accolade virtual care appointment data.

Contact: Mark Seelig
Blue Shield of California
415-607-2359
media@blueshieldca.com

 

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SOURCE Blue Shield of California

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World News Day: 1,000-plus newsrooms in 100-plus countries unite to defend trusted journalism

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TORONTO, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ – On 28 September, more than 1,000 news organizations and support agencies from more than 100 countries will mark World News Day, a global campaign to promote the value of journalism.

This year, news organizations are asked to show what goes into their journalism so that the public can know the facts, understand what matters and choose trusted journalism.

The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) founded World News Day in 2018 with 17 participating organizations. With the addition of WAN-IFRA as a partner a year later, the campaign went global and last year, it reached more than 1,000 publishers across 108 countries and 17 languages. This year’s campaign runs from 25 September to 1 October with 28 September as the focal day, coinciding with the UN International Day for Universal Access to Information.

“News organizations are very good at telling other people’s stories. But we have not always been equally good at telling our own,” says Stig Ørskov, CEO of the World Association of News Publishers, in urging media outlets to join World News Day 2026.

Adds CJF President and Executive Director Natalie Turvey: “When trust in journalism erodes, so does the public’s ability to make sense of the world. World News Day is a chance for more than 1,000 newsrooms to make the case together for fact-based reporting at a time when that case has never been more important.” 

Newsroom closures and shrinking budgets have weakened journalism worldwide, while AI-generated content and disinformation increasingly compete with real reporting for public attention. No single newsroom can address these challenges alone. World News Day brings newsrooms together to make one collective case, and to do something journalism rarely does: explain its own process. For one week, participating outlets are invited to show readers the work behind what they publish, giving the public something concrete whereby to judge trust.

“A society that loses its grip on facts loses its grip on itself,” says Branko Brkic, founder of Project Kontinuum, a global network to secure the news media’s future and co-organizer of World News Day. “A society that fights for truth can still find its way back.

“Alone, any one of us can be dismissed. Together, in dozens of languages and more than 100 countries, we’re harder to ignore. That’s the whole point of doing this on the same day. It is not a fundraiser. It is a rallying point.”

World News Day is organized jointly by the World Editors Forum, the Canadian Journalism Foundation and Project Kontinuum.

Newsrooms can register at https://wan-ifra.my.salesforce-sites.com/onlineregistration?regid=a1PW7000004FkLBMA. From 1 September, all who register gain access to campaign materials, including a collection of op-eds from leading journalists, translated campaign assets in 20+ languages, social media graphics and copy for the campaign week, print and digital ads, and cartoons and video, all built around the campaign message:

“Know the facts. Understand what matters. Choose trusted journalism. Because it’s your right to know.” 

Members of the public are invited to follow the campaign at [worldnewsday.org] and on social media using #WorldNewsDay #WND26 #ChooseTrustedJournalism #YourRightToKnow.

About World News Day
World News Day is a global campaign built around fact-based journalism. It is organized jointly by WAN-IFRA’s World Editors Forum, the Canadian Journalism Foundation and Project Kontinuum.

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SOURCE The Canadian Journalism Foundation

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NeuralTrust Named a Pioneer in Gartner EMQ for AI Application Security

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NeuralTrust is the best-positioned European platform recognised in the Pioneer quadrant of Gartner’s first-ever research framework dedicated to AI Application Security.

NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NeuralTrust is the leading platform for securing and scaling AI agents, providing runtime protection, agent posture management, automated red teaming, and gateway-level enforcement to help enterprises deploy AI systems securely and at scale.

NeuralTrust today announced it has been named a Pioneer in the Gartner Emerging Market Quadrant for AI Application Security, Gartner’s first dedicated research framework evaluating vendors in this category. NeuralTrust is the best-positioned European-headquartered company recognized in the quadrant, reinforcing its position as the leading AI security platform built for the era of autonomous agents.

The Gartner Emerging Market Quadrant differs from the established Gartner Magic Quadrant in that it evaluates markets still in formation, where vendor differentiation comes from architectural innovation rather than scale alone. Pioneer status recognizes vendors that show architecturally advanced approaches to AI security, with coverage across the full lifecycle of agentic applications, from discovery and posture management to automated testing and real-time runtime defense.

“Being named a Pioneer in Gartner’s first AI Application Security quadrant validates what we have been building since day one,” said Joan Vendrell, Co-Founder and CEO of NeuralTrust. “AI applications and autonomous agents introduce a fundamentally different risk surface, one that traditional security tools were never designed to address. We built NeuralTrust to be the security layer that sits between enterprise AI and the threats that target it, and this recognition reflects the depth and breadth of what we have shipped.”

The report reflects several shifts now shaping the AI Application Security category:

A market distinct from traditional AppSec. AI Application Security protects AI-powered applications, large language models, and autonomous agents against threats that do not exist in traditional software security, including prompt injection, data exfiltration, and model manipulation.Full lifecycle coverage as the standard. Gartner identifies three core capabilities defining the market: automated discovery and inventory of AI applications, automated AI security testing, and AI runtime defense that monitors inputs and outputs in real time.A closed-loop architecture. Pioneers combine posture management, adversarial testing, and runtime defense in a single platform rather than as disconnected point solutions.

NeuralTrust is headquartered in Barcelona and operates offices in London and New York, making it the best-positioned European-headquartered platform in the quadrant. The company opened its London office in September 2026 to support a growing base of financial services, technology, and enterprise clients across the UK.

“European enterprises face the same urgency as their counterparts in the United States when it comes to AI agent security, and they carry additional compliance obligations that platforms built outside the EU were never designed to address,” said Cameron Brown, UK Managing Director at NeuralTrust. “Being the only European Pioneer in Gartner’s first AI Application Security quadrant is a clear signal that the region now has a platform purpose-built for its security and regulatory needs.”

The Emerging Market Quadrant Pioneer designation adds to a year of Gartner recognition for NeuralTrust, which has also been named a Sample Vendor in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Application Security 2026, the Gartner Hype Cycle for AI Governance Technologies 2026, the Gartner Hype Cycle for Infrastructure Security 2026, and the Gartner Hype Cycle for Data Security 2026. The company has also been included in the Gartner Market Guide for AI Gateways and the Gartner Market Guide for Guardian Agents.

NeuralTrust remains committed to giving enterprises a single platform, TrustGate, TrustGuard, TrustLens, and TrustTest, to discover, test, and defend AI agents across their full lifecycle.

Gartner members can access the full report here.

About NeuralTrust

NeuralTrust is the leading platform for securing and scaling AI Agents. Recognized by Gartner, its platform helps enterprises identify, secure, and govern all the AI agents running in the company. Clients span from global banks and airlines to energy companies and government agencies. NeuralTrust’s mission is to make AI adoption measurable, governable, and safe, turning AI security into a strategic advantage.

Learn more at neuraltrust.ai 

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SOURCE NeuralTrust

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Stonly Launches Business Process Agents to Automate Complex Customer Service Processes

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New AI agents follow the same knowledge, rules, and workflows that support teams already use, without rebuilding SOPs as siloed knowledge for AI

NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Stonly, the knowledge platform for customer service in the AI era, today announced the launch of Business Process Agents (BPAs), AI agents that automate customer service processes end-to-end by following the same knowledge and SOPs human support teams use.

Business Process Agents go beyond AI that simply answers questions. They follow structured Stonly Guides that define the steps, decision logic, rules, required information, and actions behind a support process. That means the same process can be followed by a human agent, used to guide a customer through self-service, or executed autonomously by AI.

The result is AI that can automate the complex, high-value support issues where the right resolution depends on the customer, the situation, company policy, and what happens at each step.

As customer service organizations push for greater automation, simple questions have become increasingly easy for AI to answer. The harder problem is everything that comes next: troubleshooting, eligibility decisions, account changes, policy workflows, escalations, and the countless “it depends” situations that make up real support operations.

Today, teams trying to automate those processes typically translate them into prompts, agent instructions, retrieval rules, workflow logic, and other AI configuration. Over time, they end up maintaining one version of the process for people and another for AI.

With Business Process Agents, AI can follow the same support knowledge, SOPs, rules, and workflows the team already uses.

“AI has gotten very good at answering questions, but customer service is not just a collection of questions and answers,” said Alexis Fogel, Founder and CEO of Stonly. “The most important support work follows processes: check this, ask that, apply this rule, take an action, and make a different decision depending on what happens. Business Process Agents let AI follow the actual process instead of requiring teams to recreate it separately for AI.”

What Business Process Agents Do

Execute Complex Support Processes

Business Process Agents follow Stonly Guides step by step, including branches, decision logic, required checks, customer information, policies, and actions. They can ask for information, determine what happens next, take action through connected systems, and continue through the process until the issue is resolved or human judgment is required.

That makes it possible to automate processes that cannot be handled reliably with a single answer or simple prompt, including troubleshooting, eligibility, intake, account changes, policy-driven workflows, and other complex “it depends” cases.

Use the Same Process as the Support Team

Business Process Agents run on the same Stonly knowledge and workflows used by human agents. Teams do not need to maintain separate documentation and logic for people and AI.

When the process changes, the team updates the Guide. The new process is immediately available wherever it is used.

Work Autonomously or With Human Agents

Business Process Agents can resolve customer issues directly or work alongside human agents. A BPA can complete an entire process autonomously, handle part of a process and ask an agent to approve an important decision, or collect information and complete procedural work before handing the case to a person with the context and next step ready.

This allows teams to automate as much of each process as makes sense without forcing every support interaction into either fully manual or fully autonomous service.

Make Advanced AI Easier to Build and Maintain

Business Process Agents are created from human-readable Stonly Guides that support, operations, and knowledge teams can understand and manage.

Teams define the process once and use it for people and AI. New BPAs can be created from processes the organization already knows how to run, and changes can be made directly to the underlying process instead of being recreated across separate systems.

Why Business Process Agents Matter Now

Customer service organizations are under pressure to use AI for more than answering simple questions. They need AI to reduce the cost of service by resolving the complex issues that consume meaningful agent time.

But complexity has been the ceiling on automation.

The more important a support process becomes, the more likely it is to depend on detailed procedures, exceptions, business rules, customer context, and actions across multiple systems. Human teams already have SOPs to manage that complexity. Recreating the same logic separately for AI creates another version that has to be built, tested, governed, and maintained.

Business Process Agents remove that duplication.

Instead of creating one process for people and another for AI, companies can have AI run the processes they already use. People and AI share the same source of truth, changes only need to be made once, and automation can extend to processes that were previously too complicated or too risky to hand over to AI.

“Without Stonly, teams end up recreating the same processes for AI that their support teams already know how to follow,” Fogel explained. “The opportunity is much bigger than making prompts better. It is giving AI the ability to follow the same processes the business already trusts its people to follow.”

Availability

Stonly Business Process Agents are [available today / entering beta with select customers today]. Business Process Agents can be deployed directly to customers or used alongside human agents.

For more information, visit stonly.com.

About Stonly, Inc.

Stonly is the knowledge platform for customer service in the AI era. It helps support teams create, govern, and deliver accurate, structured knowledge for customers, support reps and AI, and turn that knowledge into processes that people and AI can follow. Stonly makes self-service, agent guidance, and AI more reliable and scalable. Backed by top venture capital firms Northzone and Accel, Stonly serves complex support environments at companies. Stonly is HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2 Type 2 compliant. Learn more at stonly.com.

Press Contact:

Trilby Lawless
6464504044
stonly.com

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SOURCE Stonly, Inc.

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