Health Net of Arizona Will Launch a Medicare Special Needs Plan Supported by Alere Medical.

Alere Chosen for New SNP in Addition to Continuing Programs for Diabetes and Heart Failure

TEMPE, Ariz. & RENO, Nev. -- Alere Medical, Inc., one of the leading disease management companies, today announced a new agreement with Health Net of Arizona, Inc., a subsidiary of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), to support a Special Needs Plan (SNP) for Medicare patients with hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol).

As part of the SNP with Health Net of Arizona, Alere Medical will provide pharmacy benefit management (PBM) data analysis to identify patients not on appropriate drugs or not filling prescriptions, as well as targeted education materials tailored for patients with high cholesterol. In addition, patients who have existing heart conditions related to hyperlipidemia will be enrolled in Alere's disease management program for coronary artery disease (CAD). The SNP will begin on January 1, 2007.

Hyperlipidemia is a chronic condition that is a precursor to strokes and heart disease. It is an elevation of lipids (fats) in the bloodstream including cholesterol, cholesterol esters (compounds), phospholipids and triglycerides1. The SNP with Health Net of Arizona was designed to support interventions to lower cholesterol and improve cardiac risk.

"Alere Medical currently provides disease management services to over 2 million Medicare advantage members nationwide," said Tim Moore, MD, chief marketing officer for Alere. "We are pleased to be able to bring this knowledge and experience to help support Health Net's new Medicare product that focuses on patients with special needs."

In addition to the new SNP, Health Net of Arizona is also working with Alere on a new diabetes pilot program for 200 of its Medicare Advantage health plan members.

About Alere Medical Inc.

Alere Medical Incorporated is a leader in specialized, disease management services focusing on select high cost diseases to maximize clients' return on investment. Alere produces unequalled clinical and cost saving results, by precision targeting the patients who will benefit most from specialty interventions. Alere's integrated care monitoring system identifies and monitors all medium- and high-risk patients, and prioritizes those patients to facilitate efficient workflow. With published outcomes that exceed those of any competitor, Alere Medical's disease management programs result in improved clinical outcomes for patients, and guaranteed savings for clients.

Alere Medical has received NCQA Patient Oriented Full Accreditation for its Heart Failure Disease Management Program, as well as for its CAD Program. The company has also received Patient and Physician Oriented Full Accreditation for its Asthma and COPD Programs powered by National Jewish Research Center (2004-2007). For more information, visit www.alere.com or call [phone].

1American Heart Association;

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4600