LOS ANGELES, California - Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT) today announced the promotion of Kate Longworth-Gentry to senior vice president of Health Plan Operations, a new national position for Health Net that reports to Marvin P. Rich, executive vice president, Finance and Operations.
In her new role, Longworth-Gentry oversees all health plan operation functions at Health Net's health plans in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Oregon, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Prior to her promotion, Longworth-Gentry served as senior vice president of Service Operations for Health Net of the Northeast. There, she was responsible for operations for more than 1 million members in four states, including call centers, claim processing centers, plan administration, enrollment, fulfillment, print, small group sales support, and the appeals and grievance departments.

"Kate's more than 20 years of experience in operations for multi-state organizations and her demonstrated leadership in the Northeast position her perfectly for her new role with Health Net," said Rich. "I look forward to Kate's leadership as Health Net continues to come together as one company, explores new ways to improve service levels for our members and employer groups, and develops new opportunities to improve our operations and enhance efficiency."

Prior to joining Health Net, Longworth-Gentry oversaw Commercial Call Center Operations for First Union, a financial services company based in North Carolina. From 1995 to 1998, Longworth-Gentry held several positions with United Healthcare. Most recently, she served as chief operating officer of United Healthcare's AARP Division, overseeing the operations of four service centers that served 4 million members in three states.

In addition, Longworth-Gentry has held national senior-level operations positions with Metrahealth and Metlife, as well as positions with AT&T Universal Card Services and Citibank.

Gary Velasquez's Departure

Health Net also announced today that Gary Velasquez, president of Business Transformation and Innovation Services Division, has left Health Net to pursue other opportunities.
"I want to thank Gary for his hard work and dedication to Health Net over the last eight years," said Jay Gellert, president and chief executive officer of Health Net, Inc. "During his tenure with Health Net, Gary served in several key roles where his leadership was instrumental in improving our performance and transforming our business processes through the use of technology."

"On behalf of Health Net's Board of Directors, I wish Gary the very best in his future endeavors," added Gellert.

Velasquez joined Health Net's predecessor company, Foundation Health Corporation, in February of 1994 as chief operating officer of its behavioral health care subsidiary. Later that year, he was promoted to president of the company's Specialty Services Division. In 1996, he led the company's California health plan, Foundation Health. In 1997, Velasquez became president of Health Net's Government and Specialty Services Division. Velasquez went on to lead Health Net's New Ventures Group in 1999, and in early 2001, he was promoted to president of Health Net's Business Transformation and Innovation Services Division.

Certain matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical information provided herein may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risks discussed in the "Cautionary Statements" section included within the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and the risks discussed in the Company's other filings with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's analysis, judgment, belief or expectation only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

Health Net, Inc. is one of the nation's largest publicly traded managed health care companies. Its mission is to enhance quality of life for its customers by offering products distinguished by their quality, service and affordability. The company's HMO, insured PPO and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to approximately 5.5 million individuals in 15 states through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE programs. Health Net's subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to behavioral health, dental, vision and prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.

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