For Fourth Consecutive Time, The Word & Brown Companies Achieve HITRUST r2 Certification Demonstrating the Highest Level of Information Protection Assurance

HITRUST r2 Certification Validates Commitment to Strong Cybersecurity and Protecting Sensitive Data

ORANGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Word & Brown Companies today announced that several systems in use by Word & Brown^® General Agency and CHOICE Administrators^® have earned Certified status by HITRUST for information security.

HITRUST r2 Certification demonstrates that The Word & Brown Companies’ systems have met demanding regulatory compliance and industry-defined requirements and are appropriately managing risk.

By including federal and state regulations, standards, and frameworks, and incorporating a risk-based approach, the HITRUST Assurance Program helps organizations address security and data protection challenges through a comprehensive and flexible framework of prescriptive and scalable security controls.

“Organizations like ours are continually under pressure to address current and emerging threats and meet complex compliance, information protection, and privacy requirements,” said Word & Brown co-founder John M. Word III. “We are pleased to demonstrate to our business partners, brokers, customers, and employees our adoption of the highest standards for data protection and information security.”

“This achievement – which we’ve earned for the fourth time since 2018 – places our businesses in an elite group of organizations worldwide,” said Word & Brown co-founder Edward J. “Rusty” Brown, Jr. “HITRUST certification is considered the gold standard for its comprehensive security testing, and we’re proud to be recognized for our commitment as we prepare to mark our 40^th anniversary year.”

“Without consistency, transparency, and reliability, an information security assessment cannot provide the requisite level of assurances needed to make important business decisions. That is why we focus on producing the highest quality reports available,” said Vincent Bennekers, Vice President, Quality at HITRUST. “Achievement of a HITRUST r2 Certification is an assurance that The Word & Brown Companies take compliance and information risk management seriously.”

About The Word & Brown Companies

The Word & Brown Companies are comprised of three distinct businesses, all with the mission of simplifying access to greater health insurance choices. Established in 1985, the Word & Brown General Agency is among the nation’s largest General Agents, with a focus on employer-sponsored health insurance benefits and individual and family health insurance. CHOICE Administrators is the parent organization of CaliforniaChoice, the nation’s largest private, multi-carrier, employee-choice small business health insurance exchange, and ChoiceBuilder, the nation’s first ancillary benefits exchange. The Companies also offer two no-cost prescription drug discount cards, the California Rx Card and the Nevada Drug Card, which deliver savings of up to 80 percent on medications at more than 68,000 pharmacies nationwide. For more information, visit www.wbcompanies.com.