Health Net 1999 Annual Report Download - page 4

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2 FOUNDATION HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC.
I am pleased to report to you on a successful 1999
for Foundation Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:FHS).
At the beginning of the year we faced many
hurdles and, thanks to the tireless efforts of our
management team and the more than 12,000
people who work for FHS and the steadfast
support of the Board of Directors, we were able
to successfully address these challenges.
As we entered 1999, we knew FHS had to
improve.We knew we had to substantially
strengthen our financial performance, solidify the
balance sheet by reducing debt, divest certain
poorly performing non-core operations that were
a distraction to management, integrate a new
management team, improve core health plan
operations and, overall, tighten our focus.
While 1999 saw us achieve many important
goals, we now are devoting significant energies to
building a sustainable future that is based on the
consumer and continued sound financial manage-
ment.We must also work to address the issues
managed care faces in both the legislative and
legal arenas.
In May, the Board elected R ichard W. Hanselman
as the new chairman of FHS. As a former CEO,
Mr. Hanselman’s experience and wise counsel
contributed significantly to our success in 1999.
Throughout this report, you will see examples
of the work our various units do to serve specific
consumer needs.We believe that the future of
health care rests with those enterprises that best
serve the new, active and informed health care
consumer.
We are determined to make FHS such an
enterprise and, to that end, we formed the New
Ventures Group in 1999. Led by Gary Velasquez,
the group is actively engaged in a thorough
review of potential business strategies involving
the Internet and other forms of information
technology that will better serve the consumer.
We expect to report to you, our stockholders, on
this group’s efforts as we move through 2000.
We could not have undertaken this new challenge,
however, if we had not successfully addressed the
challenges we confronted at the time of last year’s
Annual R eport. Let me review how we did.
While 1999 saw us achieve many important goals,
we now are devoting significant energies to building a
sustainable future that is based on the consumer and
continued sound financial management.
To our stockholders