Humana Inc.
500 West Main Street
P.O. Box 1438
Louisville, KY 40201-1438
http://www.humana.com
n e w s r e l e a s e
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Kristi Drablos
Humana Investor Relations
Phone: 502-580-3644
EMAIL: kdrablos@humana.com
Tom Noland
Humana Corporate Communications
Phone: 502-580-3674
E-MAIL: tnoland@humana.com
Humana names Michael B. McCallister
President and Chief Executive Officer
LOUISVILLE, KY - February 3, 2000 - Humana Inc.
(NYSE: HUM), today announced that that its Board of
Directors has elected Michael B. McCallister, 47,
president and chief executive officer and a member of
the board.
Mr. McCallister, a 26-year Humana veteran, has
been a member of Humana's four-person Office of the
Chairman since August 1999, where he worked closely
with Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer David
A. Jones on the company's turnaround plan. Most
recently he held the position of senior vice president
for the Health Plan Division, responsible for Humana's
large group commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, workers'
compensation and military or TRICARE businesses.
"Mike is well-known to our organization and was
clearly a leading candidate to replace Greg Wolf as
chief executive officer last August," said Mr. Jones,
who was appointed interim chief executive officer by
the board following Mr. Wolf's resignation Aug. 3.
"Since then, he has distinguished himself in working
alongside me, the other members of the office of the
chairman - Ken Fasola and Jim Murray - and Humana's
board of directors, in addressing the issues facing our
company and in setting our plans for a return to
sustained growth in profitability. We are delighted
Mike has agreed to take on this new responsibility and
are confident that his leadership will serve all of our
constituencies well."
Jones said evidence of Humana's turnaround was
shown by its third-quarter core earnings and will be
further demonstrated by its fourth-quarter results,
which will be announced Feb. 9. "Mike's role in
producing these results was absolutely essential,"
Jones said. "Our Medicare and large-group commercial
businesses, under his direct supervision, achieved
significant premium yield increases in the fourth
quarter, while the company's overall medical expense
ratio improved sequentially."
"I look forward to working with my colleagues to
continue building on the momentum we have established
in the last several months and which will be evident in
our fourth-quarter operating results," Mr. McCallister
said. "We intend to continue to focus on our core
health insurance businesses. We will also continue to
sell non-core assets and use the proceeds to pay down
debt and invest in our industry-leading Internet
initiatives."
Mr. McCallister pointed to the pending sales of
Physician Corporation of America's workers'
compensation business, Humana's individual Medicare
Supplement business and the company's LasVegas HMO as
recent dispositions of non-core assets that will
contribute to an improved balance sheet.
"Through our increasingly successful turnaround
strategy, and with the enthusiastic support of our
talented employees, we will continue to make progress
toward becoming the nation's leading Internet-enabled,
customer-focused health services company," Mr.
McCallister said.
Mr. McCallister holds an MBA degree from
Pepperdine University in Malibu, Cal. and a BS degree
from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La. He joined
Humana in 1974 as a finance specialist and served in
various market and regional executive capacities. He
was elected vice president in 1989 and headed the
integrated operations of Humana's health plans and
hospitals in Arizona for the next three years. From
1992 to 1996 he served in the same capacity in Texas,
becoming responsible for Humana's health plan
operations exclusively after the company spun off its
hospitals in 1993.
He was promoted to president - Division I in
1996, with senior management responsibility for
Humana's Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico operations.
From 1997 until his appointment to the Office of the
Chairman in August 1999, Mr. McCallister had senior
management responsibility for health plan operations.
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is
one of the nation's largest publicly traded managed
health care companies with 6 million health plan
members primarily in 15 states and Puerto Rico. Humana
offers coordinated health care through a variety of
delivery systems - health maintenance organizations,
preferred provider organizations, point-of-service
plans and administrative services products - to
employer groups, government-sponsored plans and
individuals. Additional information about Humana is
available at http://www.humana.com.
This press release contains forward-looking
information. The forward-looking statements are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-
looking statements may be significantly impacted by
certain risks and uncertainties described in Humana's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 1998 and in Humana's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
for the quarter ended March 31, June 30, and September
30, 1999, all as filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
A publication quality photograph of Mr.
McCallister is available on the Humana home-page at
www.humana.com. Choose Corporate Communications. In the
left column, select Leadership. Scroll down to Mr.
McCallister's photo.
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