Health Net Hires Government, Health Care Leader for Business Development; Thomas F. Carrato Joins Federal Services Team.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Health Net Federal Services (HNFS), the government operations division of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), announced today that Thomas F. Carrato has joined HNFS as program officer, Business Development, leading future business development avenues with the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs. The addition of Tom Carrato to the management team allows Health Net to add necessary expertise to its organization as the government's Military Health System addresses the critical issues of benefit changes and rising health care costs. Carrato reports directly to Steve Tough, president, HNFS.

Carrato has a long-standing career in both the private sector and public health care arenas. He spent more than 27 years in various capacities in government managing and overseeing health care, mainly for military personnel and their families. He has served as Assistant Surgeon General of the United States, Regional Health Administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Plan Administration. As TRICARE Management Activity's (TMA) chief operating officer, Carrato managed approximately 600 employees with an annual budget of more than $12 billion. Most recently in the private sector, he served as division president and vice president for MAXIMUS Federal Services, Inc., a publicly traded government services company that provides complete program management and operations services to state and local governments, as well as the federal government.

"Tom's background complements our management team and provides additional depth so that we may respond to the changing nature of government-provided health care, and serve our customer by offering high quality health care in a cost-effective manner," said James E. Woys, president, Government and Specialty Services at Health Net, Inc. "His experience as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Plan Administration and chief operating officer for TMA allows our organization to have better insight in becoming the best we can be."

"It is fantastic to be reunited with Tom since our days working with the CHAMPUS program," commented Tough. "In the late eighties, Tom, a CHAMPUS Program architect, understood the potential and possibilities of what a government health care program could provide for military and their families. Today, as the military health care systems continue to evolve, we believe Tom will be critical in joining the Health Net team to most effectively support our customers to help them realize their goals in military health care."

Scott Kelly, TRICARE program officer, HNFS, stated, "The Federal Services team welcomes Tom, and we are excited about the experience and knowledge he will contribute to our organization. Tom's insight and management skills will further prepare us for the new challenges and opportunities the future brings in military health care and enhance our ability to continue to deliver exceptional service to our customers."

"I am excited about joining the Health Net Federal Services team and contributing to their important mission of supporting the TRICARE program and its beneficiaries," said Carrato.

Carrato, a retired Rear Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service, earned his Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Social Work from the University of South Carolina, as well as a masters degree in Accounting from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He is both a licensed Master Social Worker and a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Carrato is the recipient of many awards, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, an Honorary Fellowship from the American Academy of Medical Administrators, and the TRUST Award from the National Military and Veteran's Alliance and the Military Coalition Alliance.

About Health Net

Health Net Federal Services, a subsidiary of Health Net, Inc., has a long history of providing cost-effective, quality managed health care programs for government agencies, including the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs. As the managed care support contractor for the TRICARE North Region, Health Net provides health care services to over 3 million uniformed services beneficiaries, active and retired, and their families.

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 6.3 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 7.3 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. For more information on Health Net Federal Services, please visit www.healthnetfederalservices.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.