Steven D. Tough is president of Government Programs, Health Net, Inc., a newly created role he assumed in November 2009. Government Programs encompasses Health Net Federal Services, LLC; MHN; national product and marketing services, and the company’s Medicare and Medicaid lines of business, and for a short time, Health Net of California, Inc. Mr. Tough continues to serve as president of Health Net Federal Services (HNFS), the government operations division of Health Net, Inc. HNFS is one of the longest serving TRICARE Managed Care Support Contractors, providing managed care services to active duty family members, veterans, military retirees, and their dependents.
In early 2008, Mr. Tough was appointed president of the Government and Specialty Services division where he assumed responsibility for a broad scope of corporate issues such as health care management and government contracts, as well as MHN, the behavioral health subsidiary of Health Net, Inc. In his role as president of HNFS, Mr. Tough oversees the day-to-day administration and management direction for HNFS, which includes preparation for reprocurement opportunities of our TRICARE contract, as well as strategizing our growth in future businesses that include veterans affairs and other government funded health care services. Through programs such as Military Family Life Counseling, HNFS and MHN are partnering to care for veterans, service members and their families as they return from deployment and reintegrate into civilian life.
Formerly the president and chief operating officer of Foundation Health Corporation (FHC), a predecessor company of Health Net, Mr. Tough brings first-hand experience of complex government programs (CHAMPUS, TRICARE, Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs). In addition, he has knowledge of Health Net’s organization and people, familiarity with key players on Capitol Hill and federal agencies, and more than 30 years of health care management and operational know-how.
Mr. Tough has a long-standing career in the health care industry. He spent 20 years at FHC, nine of those years as a president and chief operating officer in the Government and Specialty Services groups. Since leaving FHC in 1998, Mr. Tough started his own firm providing health care consulting services to a variety of companies, and served as president of the California Association of Health Plans and MAXIMUS, Inc., a health care services organization.
Mr. Tough earned his Bachelor of Arts in Health and Safety Studies from California State University, Sacramento; a Master’s of Public Health from the University of Michigan; and is a graduate of the National HMO Fellowship Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), Office of Health Maintenance Organizations.
Health Net is among the nation’s largest publicly traded managed health care companies and is currently ranked #146 on the 2010 Fortune 500 list of corporations. Health Net’s mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. The company’s health plans and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to approximately 6.0 million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net’s behavioral health subsidiary, MHN, provides mental health benefits to approximately 5.5 million individuals in all 50 states. The company's subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.
