Health Net Announces Appointment of Bret Morris as Corporate Controller

Morris will join Health Net from UnitedHealth Group's Ovationsdivision, where he currently is vice president and chief financialofficer of the company's Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program.

Prior to UnitedHealth Group, Morris held a variety of seniorfinancial positions at WellPoint, Inc.

His last position at WellPoint was vice president, divisionalchief financial officer and assistant corporate controller. Beforethat he also was vice president, Operations Support; director,Corporate Budget and Acquisition Analysis; and director, Finance andInformation Systems.

Morris also held positions at two leading auditing firms, PriceWaterhouse and Coopers and Lybrand, before joining WellPoint.

"We are very pleased to welcome Bret to Health Net," said BuddyPiszel, executive vice president and chief financial officer of HealthNet. "He brings a wealth of direct experience in managed care anddemonstrated expertise in all areas of financial reporting. He's agreat addition to our team."

About Health Net

Health Net, Inc. is among the nation's largest publicly tradedmanaged health care companies. Its mission is to help people behealthy, secure and comfortable. The company's HMO, POS, insured PPOand government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits toapproximately 6.6 million individuals in 27 states and the District ofColumbia through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE andVeterans Affairs programs. Health Net's behavioral health subsidiary,MHN, provides mental health benefits to approximately 7.3 millionindividuals in all 50 states. The company's subsidiaries also offermanaged health care products related to prescription drugs, and offermanaged health care product coordination for multi-region employersand administrative services for medical groups and self-fundedbenefits programs.

For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit thecompany's Web site at www.healthnet.com.

Cautionary Statements

Certain matters discussed in this release contain forward-lookingstatements within the meaning of Section 21E of the SecuritiesExchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the SecuritiesAct of 1933, as amended, that involve a number of risks anduncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historicalinformation provided herein, may be deemed to be forward-lookingstatements. These statements are based on management's analysis,judgment, belief and expectation only as of the date hereof, and aresubject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Without limitingthe foregoing, the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans,""expects," "may," "should," "could," "estimate," "intend" and othersimilar expressions are intended to identify forward-lookingstatements. Actual results could differ materially due to, among otherthings, rising health care costs, negative prior period claims reservedevelopments, trends in medical care ratios, issues relating toprovider contracts, operational issues, health care reform and generalbusiness conditions. Additional factors that could cause actualresults to differ materially from those reflected in theforward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risksdiscussed in the "Risk Factors" section included within the company'smost recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and therisks discussed in the company's other periodic filings with the SEC.Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on theseforward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation topublicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events orcircumstances that arise after the date of this release.