The Hartford Teams Up with Affiliate of Blue Cross of California

HARTFORD, Conn., April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. , one of the nation's largest providers of workers' compensation insurance, announced today that it will team up with BC Life & Health Insurance Company, an affiliate of Blue Cross of California, to better serve its California customers. Under this new arrangement, The Hartford's workers' compensation clients in California will gain access to Blue Cross of California's extensive medical and service provider network, the most comprehensive in the state.

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"California is home to our greatest number of employees covered by workers' compensation," said Judith Kunisch, vice president of medical support and strategy at The Hartford. "When employees are injured on the job, it's important for them to have easy access to the best physicians and health-care professionals possible, no matter what part of the state they call home. Working with Blue Cross's extensive provider network and services will help to make that happen, and enable us to better serve our clients."

As part of the arrangement, The Hartford will offer a certified workers' compensation medical network for California businesses enrolled in the program. This will enable employers to guide injured workers to a broad network of Blue Cross-credentialed medical providers and facilities, including primary and specialty physicians, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation centers. The certified plan also includes the network's ancillary service providers, such as testing centers, orthotics facilities and medical equipment resources.

"We believe this arrangement will allow the application of many of the managed care techniques used in our health care operations to treat occupational injuries for The Hartford's client companies," said Tim Hoops, president of workers' compensation for WellPoint, Inc., parent of Blue Cross. "The Hartford's extensive experience in workers' compensation management, coupled with our broad network and focus on successful patient outcomes, will provide a clear choice for California employers who want effective care for their workers."

The Hartford provides workers' compensation insurance to more than 7,000 companies in California. According to A.M. Best's company, The Hartford is the fourth largest workers' compensation carrier in the nation.

The California Department of Insurance has just approved The Hartford's certified medical network plan, and companies insured by The Hartford can begin accessing the Blue Cross of California workers' compensation network on May 15.

Blue Cross of California and BC Life & Health Insurance Company

Blue Cross of California is one of the state's largest health insurers, and together with its California affiliate BC Life & Health Insurance Company, serves more than 7.6 million medical members. Blue Cross of California and BC Life & Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association and can be found on the web at http://www.bluecrossca.com/.

The Hartford

The Hartford, a Fortune 100 company, is one of the nation's largest financial services and insurance companies, with 2005 revenues of $27.1 billion. The Hartford is a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and group benefits; automobile and homeowners products; and business property and casualty insurance. International operations are located in Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom. The Hartford's Internet address is http://www.thehartford.com/.

Some of the statements in this release should be considered forward- looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements about our future results of operations. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2005 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.

Contacts: The Hartford Sue Honeyman 860-547-4976 shoneyman@thehartford.com WellPoint Kellie Bernell 805-557-6755 kellie.bernell@wellpoint.com