WellPoint Appoints Kevin R. Hayden as President of State Sponsore...( INDIANAPOLIS April 18 /- WellPoin...),Health

INDIANAPOLIS, April 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) today announced the appointment of Kevin R. Hayden as president of its State Sponsored Business division, effective April 21, 2008.

In his new role, Hayden will be responsible for leading WellPoint's Medicaid business division which currently serves more than 2 million members in 14 states.

"WellPoint is very fortunate to add the quality of experience and expertise that Kevin will bring to our State Sponsored Business," said Brian Sassi, president and chief executive officer of WellPoint's Consumer Business Unit. "Kevin's years of dedicated service to the health care sector coupled with his direct involvement to develop and shape Medicaid programs at the state level will help WellPoint continue to meet the needs of this important market segment."

Prior to joining WellPoint, Hayden served as Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Services for the State of Wisconsin. In this role, Hayden was responsible for leading all public health and care delivery services to over 900,000 residents.

With a career spanning more than 23 years in the private and public sectors, Hayden was also the administrator for Wisconsin's Division of Health Care Financing, where he was responsible for the oversight of the Wisconsin Medicaid program. Hayden also spent nearly ten years as president and chief administrative officer at Dean Health Systems, Inc., a multi-specialty integrated healthcare delivery system with a physician group practice of more than 500 physicians and 3,400 employees in Madison, Wisconsin. Among his many accomplishments, he was the key architect for executing physician growth strategies that more than doubled system revenue.

WellPoint's State Sponsored Business is one of the largest Medicaid managed care organization, serving more than 2 million members enrolled in Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Programs, and other publicly funded h
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