June 7 , 2006

FirstCarolinaCare's FirstPlan Program to Receive National Recognition for Making Health Care Coverage Accessible

PINEHURST, NC.-- The Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), a coalition of chief executives from the nation's leading health care providers, will present its "Honor Roll For Coverage" award to FirstHealth of the Carolinas and its subsidiary FirstCarolinaCare for the FirstPlan program, which has made health insurance more accessible for North Carolina small businesses.

The award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, May 3, at 10:30 a.m. in the board room of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. Mary R. Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, will present the award to FirstHealth CEO Charles T. Frock and FirstCarolinaCare President Ken Lewis.

The HLC Honor Roll for Coverage award is granted to outstanding regional and community programs throughout the country that make health coverage more accessible for uninsured Americans. FirstHealth of the Carolinas is only the eighth recipient of the award.

"While there are millions of uninsured Americans, we should never consider this to be an insolvable problem," Grealy said. "FirstHealth has shown that, by making health insurance more affordable for a large group of working Americans, you can keep costs affordable for all. This program is helping to demonstrate how we can reduce the uninsured rolls in the small business community. We hope this program will serve as a model to other communities as a means of providing health coverage for families and individuals."

More details regarding HLC's Honor Roll for Coverage Award are available on the Healthcare Leadership Council web site at www.hlc.org/html/awards.html.