Health Net Aids Hurricane Katrina Victims with $100,000 Contribution to Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund; Company Also Will Match Employee Donations to Relief Efforts

Business Wire, Sept 2, 2005

LOS ANGELES -- Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT) today announced that it is donating $100,000 to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to aid the organization's efforts on behalf of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The company also will match the donations from its employees to the relief efforts.

"You can't listen to the news or watch the dramatic images of the effects of Katrina and not want to lend a hand," said Jay Gellert, president and chief executive officer of Health Net, Inc. "We want to do all we can as quickly as possible to help the people affected rebuild their lives.

"In addition to our initial contribution, we will match each and every donation to hurricane relief efforts made by our nearly 9,000 associates," Gellert noted. "We did the same earlier this year to help with tsunami relief when, together, Health Net and its associates raised more than $112,000. We know that whatever resources we can give to the massive Katrina recovery efforts will be put to good use."

For every dollar Health Net associates donate to Hurricane Katrina relief organizations, Health Net will contribute a matching amount to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund or the Salvation Army. The program opened on August 31, 2005 and will remain open until the end of the year.

About Health Net

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 6.4 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 7.4 million individuals in various 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.