WellPoint Named One of Top Companies for Women Executives Third Year in a Row; WellPoint in Top...

Business Editors

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2002

For the third consecutive year, WellPoint Health Networks Inc. (NYSE:WLP), one of the nation's largest publicly traded health care companies, has been named one of America's Top 25 Public Companies for Executive

The award was announced by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) and published in the February/March issue of Executive Female magazine and on its website www.nafe.com. The award was previously given by the editors of Working Woman magazine.

Leonard D. Schaeffer, WellPoint's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "We are extremely proud that WellPoint continues to be recognized for consistent achievement in this area. WellPoint's success in recruiting and retaining outstanding executives is the result of the leadership of our Board, one third of whom are women," said Schaeffer.

WellPoint recently promoted two women executives to lead important business operations: Becky Kapustay as president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and Sandra Van Trease as president of UNICARE. "WellPoint is committed to creating an environment that provides growth opportunities for all associates throughout the Company," Schaeffer added.

In recognizing WellPoint's achievements, Executive Female magazine spotlighted Joan Herman, president of Senior, Specialty and State Sponsored Programs, one of WellPoint's largest business units. Among her responsibilities, Herman is responsible for WellPoint Pharmacy Management, one of the largest pharmacy benefit management companies in the nation and the largest to be owned by a health plan.

Last month, WellPoint was named America's best large health insurance company by Forbes.com and for the past three years, Fortune magazine has named WellPoint the most admired health care company in America.

WellPoint Health Networks Inc. serves the health care needs of more than 12 million medical members and approximately 45 million specialty members nationwide through Blue Cross of California, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri, HealthLink and UNICARE. WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including open access PPO, POS and hybrid products, HMO and specialty products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management, dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration, and Medicare supplements.