Jay M. Gellert - President, CEO and Director, Health Net, Inc

Jay M. GellertLegal Momentum is honored to present its 2007 Equal Opportunity Award to one of America’s most respected -leaders in health care, Jay M. Gellert, President and Chief Executive Officer of Health Net, Inc.
Health Net is among the nation’s largest publicly traded -managed health care companies. Its mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. The company’s health plans and -government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to more than six million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Net’s behavioral health -subsidiary, MHN, provides mental health benefits to -approximately seven million individuals in all 50 states. The company’s -subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.
At Health Net, 73 percent of the workforce is female, with 61 percent in -supervisory management positions. Forty-seven percent of senior management positions (vice presidents and above) are held by women. The company’s Organization Effectiveness department works hard to develop unique programs and policies to accommodate the demands of work and family life, such as compressed -workweeks, telecommuting and flextime.
Health Net’s accomplished Diversity team collaborates with the staffing -department to ensure that diverse groups are targeted for recruiting purposes. Health Net -consistently monitors workforce metrics regarding female leadership potential; -specifically, external hire rates and internal promotion rates are measured to -eliminate any glass ceilings that may exist. As a result, the number of women in senior management positions as well as the Board of Directors has increased. Jay personally championed Programs such as the COMPASS career development and skill-building tools and tuition reimbursement program.
Jay joined California Health Care System in 1985, and became a part of the Health Net family in 1996. A graduate of Stanford University, Jay serves on several boards, including America’s Health Insurance Plans, Miavita, Inc. and Ventas, Inc. In -addition, he is a member of California’s Advisory Committee on Managed Health Care. He is a member of the board of directors of the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH), serves on the CAQH Executive Committee and is chairman of its Administrative Simplification Committee.