PHOENIX, December 18, 2008 - Banner Health and Health Net of Arizona, Inc. have renewed a two-year contract that will continue to provide Health Net members access to health care in the Banner Health family, which recently expanded to include Banner Boswell and Banner Del E. Webb.
The contract covers Health Net members with employer-sponsored, Individual & Family Plans, and Medicare coverage. Beginning January 1, 2009, members will have access to all Banner facilities across the state whose services, among many, include general acute, outpatient services, Alzheimer, cancer, emergency, heart, maternity and pediatric care.
Carolyn Pace, Health Net’s vice president of Provider Network Management, said, “We are thrilled to continue to offer our members access to Banner’s services and team of highly skilled medical staff and pleased to include the two Sun City facilities and physicians. We work hard to provide members with a broad choice of hospitals and physicians.”
Banner Baywood Medical Center recently received national recognition for its congestive heart failure programs from CareScience. Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center was named one of America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report in Heart Care and Surgery, Gynecology, Kidney Disease and Digestive Disorders in 2008.
Health Net of Arizona offers a network of more than 6,800 primary care and specialized physicians as well as 64 hospitals.
About Health Net of Arizona
Health Net of Arizona has offices in Tempe and Tucson, employing nearly 300 associates statewide. Health Net of Arizona offers and administers a full spectrum of health care plans and specialty services, including coverage for vision, dental, life insurance*, chiropractic and alternative medicine. Products include: Employer-sponsored Plans (HMO, PPO*, POS Plus* and Indemnity*); Medicare Advantage Plans; Individual and Family Plans (HMO and PPO*); and National Provider network for PPO and POS Plus product. Health Net of Arizona serves approximately 195,000 members.
(*Offered by Health Net Life Insurance Company and administered by Health Net of Arizona.)
Health Net of Arizona has been serving Arizonans for 27 years and is proud to be selected as Arizona’s top ranking commercial health plan by NCQA and U.S. News & World Report, as well as Arizona’s No. 1 HMO for four years in a row -- 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, and the No. 2 PPO, based on the state’s largest business opinion poll, “Ranking Arizona,” which is conducted annually by Arizona Business Magazine.
Health Net of Arizona is a subsidiary of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT). 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 health plans and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to approximately 6.7 million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net’s behavioral health subsidiary, MHN, provides mental health benefits to approximately 7.0 million individuals in all 50 states. 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.
Cautionary Statements
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical information provided herein, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements and as such are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. 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, statements including 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, additional investment portfolio impairment charges, changes in the economy, volatility in the financial markets, trends in medical care ratios, unexpected utilization patterns or unexpectedly severe or widespread illnesses, membership declines, rate cuts affecting our Medicare or Medicaid business, issues relating to provider contracts, litigation costs, regulatory issues, operational issues, health care reform and general business and market 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 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any of its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this release.
