Consumer Financial Network, Inc. Adds Long-Term Care Insurance to Multi-Policy Platform.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 1999--Consumer Financial Network, Inc. (CFN) announced today it has added long-term care insurance to its range of product offerings.

CFN is a sophisticated e-commerce platform for marketing financial services and employee benefits over corporate intranets, the Internet, and CFN's telesales center. The company added its long-term care insurance platform to its list of product offerings in response to requests from member corporations. Long-term care is defined as medical and non-medical services provided to people who are physically or mentally unable to provide independent care for themselves. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 60 percent of Americans over 65 will at some point require long-term care.

James Kraynik, CFN's vice president of benefit services, stated, "The aging of the baby boom generation means that long-term care requirements will increase well into the next century. We recognize that baby boomers, workers in the 55- to 65-year-old age group, and corporate retirees appreciate that they may need long-term care during their lifetime, and are trying to plan accordingly." Unfortunately, said Kraynik, insurance premiums often compete with living expenses, so CFN is addressing the concerns of those who want to start planning, those who want to accelerate current plans, and those who are already retired by providing access to plans priced specifically for individuals in each of these groups. Retirees may take part in the program through their member corporation.

Participants can choose from traditional premium payment plans as well as alternative plans, allowing them to pay for their policy up front or extend premium payments over 10 or 20 years. Employees may choose the level of care that is appropriate for their needs, or the needs of loved ones. Quotes may be obtained for nursing home, home health care, and combination plans, and accessibility to a network of nursing home and home-care providers is also offered.

According to the 1995 Health Insurance Association of America LTC Market Survey, the average monthly cost for a $100 per day nursing-home benefit or a $50 per day home health-care benefit for a 79-year-old individual is $394.80, making the total annual cost over $47,000. The monthly cost for the same service quoted through CFN's multi-provider platform is $259.35, or an annual cost of $31,000 - a saving of $16,000.

CFN's long-term care insurance providers include American Heritage; Allianz; Central States of Omaha; Transamerica; Time/Fortis; and CNA.

CFN contracts with competing providers of financial services and employee benefits to create a platform for the comparison shopping and purchases of these services. CFN is provided at no cost to large companies and associations (typically 5,000 or more employees) for distribution as a human resource benefit to their employees or members.

More information about CFN can be obtained at www.cfn.com