For Immediate Release

Contact: Mark Morris 413-233-3178

Health New England Expands Network to
Key Providers in Central Massachusetts
Three Hospitals and the Fallon Clinic Will Now Accept HNE Insurance

Springfield, MA (October 20, 2006)—Health New England (HNE) announced today it has signed agreements with three key hospitals in Central Massachusetts.  Beginning this month, UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester along with Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer and its affiliated Medical Centers will be participating providers in the Health New England provider network.  In September, HNE signed a provider agreement with the Fallon Clinic, a 255-doctor group practice with medical centers throughout central Massachusetts.  Athol Memorial Hospital in Athol joined the HNE provider network this past July.

With these additions, HNE is expanding the options available to subscribers, particularly those on the eastern edge of its western Massachusetts service area.  Subscribers to HNE now will be able to obtain care from these providers in addition to Baystate Health and the many other facilities and practices in western Massachusetts.

According to Peter F. Straley, HNE President and CEO, the expansion to central Massachusetts was made to better serve its members.  “We have employer groups where 80 to 90 percent of their workforce is located in western Massachusetts, but the remaining 10-20 percent live in central Massachusetts.  By contracting with these providers we can better serve all our HNE members, especially those located on the edge of western and central Massachusetts.”

Health New England is a managed care organization serving western Massachusetts since 1985. Because of its commitment to accountable, personal service, nearly 100,000 members and 5,000 employers select HNE as their choice for health care coverage, administrative services and programs.

HNE employs more than 200 associates at its main offices in Springfield and in its Berkshire County office in Pittsfield.  HNE’s service area covers Franklin, Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and parts of Worcester counties in Massachusetts.  HNE has been ranked among the top health insurance plans in the United States by independent surveys.