CalPERS Completes National Search for Health Benefits Executive Officer.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 1999--

James E. Burton, Chief Executive Officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), has appointed Allen D. Feezor to head the CalPERS Health Benefits Branch.

Feezor has an extensive background in government health care planning, contracting and HMO operations. He was selected following a four-month nationwide search.

As Health Benefits Administrator for CalPERS, Feezor will oversee the purchasing of health care for more than 1 million public employees, retirees and their families throughout California. CalPERS is the nation's second largest public purchaser of employee health benefits behind the federal government and the largest in California.

Feezor replaces Margaret T. Stanley, who resigned as CalPERS Health Benefits Administrator last May to become executive director of RegenceCare, an HMO affiliated with Blue Shield in the state of Washington.

Feezor will serve as the top health advisor to the CalPERS Chief Executive Officer and the CalPERS Board of Administration. He will oversee CalPERS contracts with 10 health maintenance organizations (HMOs), two self-funded preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and three "association" plans for members of specialized employee groups.

"The person who holds this post plays a leading role in American health care reform at a time when the industry is facing unprecedented new challenges," said Burton. "It will take imagination, creativity and leadership to maintain affordable, quality health care amidst the competing demands of employers, employees, HMOs, and medical providers. That's why I am confident Allen is the best person for this critical post."

Prior to joining CalPERS, Feezor served as Vice President for Planning, Marketing, Network Development, and Managed Care for University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina (UHS). Based in Greenville, North Carolina, UHS is affiliated with the East Carolina University School of Medicine. In that post, Feezor called for stronger consumer protection and major health care reforms.

He served as Chief Deputy Commissioner for the North Carolina Department of Insurance from 1985 to 1995. His prior experience also includes a stint as chief executive of the 430,000-member North Carolina Teachers', State Employees' and Retirees' Health Plans. In the latter post, he restored stability to a troubled benefit plan, launched numerous benefit and premium changes, and implemented a choice of multiple health plans with a pioneering risk adjustment feature.

Feezor has also served as the senior Washington, D.C., representative for the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association, developing legislative, regulatory and public policy positions for that organization.

He is a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In previous years, he was a participating member of two separate studies by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine -- one on the future of health benefits and another on improving Medicare. He was a founding faculty member of the National Academy for State Health Policy. He was chair of a National Association of Insurance Commissioners' task force which developed model laws on insurance reform, health care purchasing alliances, and health plan accountability and performance standards.

"His past experience makes Mr. Feezor well qualified to help lead the CalPERS health program into the 21st Century," said California State Treasurer Philip Angelides, who chairs the CalPERS Health Benefits Committee. "I am pleased by this appointment and look forward to working with him."

Feezor will assume his new post fulltime on January 1, 2000.

For more information about CalPERS, visit our Web site at www.calpers.ca.gov.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Feezor is pronounced "FEE-zer" -- rhymes with "freezer.")