LOS ANGELES, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T announced today it has renewed its contract with Health Net Inc. for a voice and data networking solution to support Health Net's service to its 5.3 million members. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
"Processing claims, payments and membership transactions are at the very heart of our business," said Rich Griesmer, director, Enterprise Networking at Health Net. "With the AT&T solution, we're very comfortable with our network's reliability, and believe it meets our customers' needs." The solution is based on high-speed frame relay transport and AT&T Toll-Free Service.
Under the three-year contract renewal, Health Net's call centers in the United States, located in California and the Northeast, will continue to rely on AT&T Toll-Free Service to provide members with fast, easy access to answers about health insurance benefit questions. The service's advanced features automatically balance call volumes among Health Net's call centers to ensure that calls are answered in a timely manner, and also recognize existing customers when they call, providing representatives with immediate access to member records and other critical information.
In addition, the AT&T solution supports Health Net's business continuity objectives and can instantly redirect calls should a crisis or problem occur at a call center location.
The contract extends a relationship under which Health Net has purchased voice and data services from AT&T for the past five years. Health Net's services are integrated through the AT&T OneNet(R) Service offer, which integrates voice, data and Internet services on one bill.
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.
About Health Net Inc.
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 5.3 million individuals in 14 states through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE programs. Health Net's subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to behavioral health and 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, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.healthnet.com/ .
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 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, trends in medical care ratios, 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 Health Net'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. Health Net undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this release.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATT )
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATTAT&TCONTACT: Genny Hom-Franzen, of AT&T, +1-415-442-2275,ghomfranzen@att.com; David Olson of Health Net, +1-818-676-6978,david.w.olson@healthnet.com
