Blue Cross of California and Little Company of Mary Agree to Multi-Year Contract; Contract Takes Effect July 1, 2000.

Business Editors

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2000

Blue Cross of California (BCC) and Little Company of Mary Hospital today announced the signing of a multi-year agreement for hospital services for Little Company of Mary in Torrance and San Pedro Peninsula Hospital in San Pedro. The new contract will take effect July 1, 2000.

"We are pleased to reach an agreement," said Max Brown, senior vice president of network management. "Our goal has always been to reach a positive outcome so that our members may once again access the services of Little Company of Mary."

Brown noted that the multi-year agreement applies to Blue Cross of California's Prudent Buyer PPO, CaliforniaCare HMO and Medicare secondary and Medicare supplement members.

Blue Cross of California members will once again be able to access Little Company of Mary Hospital and San Pedro Peninsula Hospital as a participating provider effective July 1.

"We are delighted to once again welcome Blue Cross members to Little Company of Mary Hospital and San Pedro Peninsula Hospital, and look forward to taking care of their medical and health care needs," commented Blair Contratto, chief executive officer of Little Company of Mary Hospital.

Blue Cross members who utilize either Little Company of Mary Hospital or San Pedro Peninsula Hospital and still have questions about their coverage are urged to phone their Blue Cross customer service representative at the toll-free number on their Blue Cross ID card, or call the Little Company of Mary Hotline at 310/793-8138.

Little Company of Mary (LCM) is a not-for-profit, integrated, regional health care system based in Torrance, California. It is comprised of more than 28 health care sites throughout the greater South Bay area, extending north to El Segundo, south to San Pedro, west to the beach cities and east to Carson. LCM was created in 1992 through the affiliation of Little Company of Mary Hospital and San Pedro Peninsula Hospital. It currently includes two acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, three diagnostic imaging centers, four urgent care centers, two medical groups, two mobile pediatric vans, home health services, hospice and infusion therapy services, an inpatient and outpatient chemical dependency program and two fund raising foundations. In 1999, LCM furthered its mission by affiliating with the Providence Health System. LCM embraces the mission of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary -- a worldwide nursing congregation of more than 400 Catholic sisters.

Blue Cross of California, with 5.3 million medical members, is the California operating subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks Inc., one of the nation's largest publicly traded managed care companies. WellPoint serves the health care needs of 7.5 million medical and approximately 31 million specialty members nationally. WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including open access PPO, POS and hybrid products, HMO and specialty products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management, dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration, and Medicare supplements.