SHELTON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 2005--Eric "Rick"
Kaplan today was named Chief Sales Officer for Health Net of the
Northeast, one of the region's largest health plans with more than
850,000 members in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. Kaplan will
be responsible for all of Health Net's sales, account management and
membership in the tri-state area.
"Rick is a well-known and well-respected health insurance
executive with deep knowledge, experience and relationships throughout
the Northeast," said Steven H. Nelson, president, Health Net of the
Northeast. "His arrival at Health Net coincides with a surge in
opportunities for membership growth in the region. With his strong
strategic and sales leadership, market knowledge and product
expertise, we expect Rick will be influential in helping us realize
our goal of becoming the preferred regional health plan in the
Northeast among employers and brokers."
Kaplan will focus on providing products and services directly
aimed at pressing consumer-driven needs and improving the company's
ability to demonstrate its cost-effective health benefit solutions. He
also will provide counsel on marketing strategies to increase Health
Net's visibility throughout the company's core markets.
"My primary responsibility will be to expand our market share by
strengthening Health Net's competitive position and enhancing
relationships with clients, brokers and consultants within the
region," said Kaplan. "Health Net has a stellar reputation for
best-in-class account management with high quality products and
services. I look forward to being a part of this outstanding team."
In March, Health Net promoted Paul Lambdin, former chief sales
officer, to chief commercial officer. In this expanded role reporting
to the plan president, Lambdin is responsible for strategy development
and business plan execution and profitability of all commercial lines
of business.
Kaplan has more than 20 years of experience driving profitable
growth for health plans both nationally and in the northeast. Prior to
joining Health Net, he was a vice president of Sales and Client
Management for Trustmark Insurance Company and their national TPA,
CoreSource, where he was instrumental in driving the turnaround of the
company's Group division. Kaplan also was vice president, PPO product
management for Cigna Healthcare, where he oversaw 10 health plans with
3.3 million PPO members. In addition, he was head of sales, account
management and marketing for Connecticare, Inc. During his tenure, he
doubled membership and revenue, while achieving over 90 percent
employer satisfaction rate.
Kaplan earned his master's degree in Business Administration from
the University of Connecticut and his bachelor's of science from
Boston College. He resides in Glastonbury, Conn.
About Health Net
Health Net of the Northeast, Inc., headquartered in Shelton,
Conn., employs approximately 1,800 associates in Connecticut, New
Jersey and New York. Health Net of the Northeast, through its
subsidiaries, offers full-service health plans that serve nearly one
million members in the tri-state area. The Northeast health plans
offer a wide array of products including: Health Maintenance
Organization (HMO), Point-of-Service (POS), Preferred Provider
Organization (PPO), third-party administration, Medicare and Medicaid.
With a physician network comprising more than 90,000 physician and
provider office locations, Health Net is one of the largest health
plans in the northeast, offering a full array of open-access products
and coordination for multi-region employers.
Health Net of the Northeast is a subsidiary of Health Net, Inc.
(NYSE:HNT). Health Net, Inc. is among the nation's largest publicly
traded managed health care companies. Its mission is to help people be
healthy, secure and comfortable. The company's HMO, POS, insured PPO
and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to
approximately 6.4 million individuals in 27 states and the District of
Columbia through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE
programs. Health Net's behavioral health services subsidiary, MHN,
provides behavioral health, substance abuse and employee assistance
programs (EAPs) to approximately 7.4 million individuals in various
states, including the company's own health plan members. 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.
For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit the
company's Web site at www.healthnet.com.
Cautionary Statements
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 a number of risks and
uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical
information provided herein, may be deemed to be forward-looking
statements. These statements are based on management's analysis,
judgment, belief and expectation only as of the date hereof and are
subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Without limiting
the foregoing, the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans,"
"expects," "may," "should," "could," "estimate," "intend" and other
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Actual results could differ materially due to, among other
things, rising health care costs, negative prior period claims reserve
developments, trends in medical care ratios, issues relating to
provider contracts, operational issues, health care reform and general
business conditions. Additional 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 "Risk Factors" 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 periodic filings with the SEC.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to
publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances that arise after the date of this release.
CONTACT: Health Net
Marian Cutler, 973-517-0519
marian.cutler@healthnet.com
or
Alice Ferreira, 203-225-8836
alice.ferreira@healthnet.com
SOURCE: Health Net of the Northeast, Inc.
