TULARE COUNTY: Health Net Selected For Medi-Cal Plan

      Health Net announced Monday that it received approval from the state Department of Health Services to serve as the commercial plan under Tulare County's Two-Plan Model Medi-Cal managed care plan. Overall, 12 counties have been selected for participation in the Two-Plan Model, which gives enrollees a choice between a commercial HMO and a county-run HMO. Under the program, slated to begin during the first quarter of 1999, Health Net expects to enroll 25,000 of the approximately 60,000 eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Tulare County. Health Net says its provider network consists of 48 primary care providers, 99% of whom are bilingual. Sean Atha, Medi-Cal contract manager for the state DHS, said, "For many years, Health Net has been one of the premier health plans to our Medi-Cal beneficiaries in California. We are happy to have Health Net as our partner in Tulare County." David Friedman, Health Net's vice president for California health programs, added, "We're very pleased that the [DHS] has recognized Health Net's expertise in the area of delivering access to care to the Medi-Cal population by approving us to be a part of the Tulare County Two-Plan Model" (Health Net release, 12/1).