STERLING HSA ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS AS HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT SERVICES GROW

LAFAYETTE, CA - July 6, 2004 - Co-founders Cora M. Tellez and Kevin Woodard, veterans of the health benefits industry, today announced executive appointments in the continued growth of Sterling HSA. Based in Lafayette, CA, the company is a leader in new category of tax-advantaged health care benefits called health savings accounts, or HSAs. Sterling HSA provides services to health savings account holders to establish and manage their accounts, including education, payment of medical bills, and reporting.

HSAs work much like “medical” IRAs. They are tax-free accounts that individuals with high-deductible insurance policies can fund and use to pay for medical expenses. Because they are tax-advantaged and balances can accumulate over time, HSAs can also be used to accumulate savings. In addition, HSAs are owned by the individual account holder and therefore portable.

The company is led by Tellez, CEO, a 25 year veteran in health care finance and delivery. Prior to founding Sterling HSA, Tellez was President of the health plans division of Health Net, Inc., an insurance provider that operated in seven states and achieved revenue of $8 billion from health plans. She has also served as President of Prudential’s western health care operations, CEO of Blue Shield of California, Bay Region and Regional Manager for Kaiser Permanente of Hawaii.

Co-founder Woodard serves as COO and CFO. He too has extensive health care industry experience with more than 20 years in finance, strategy and operations at Health Net, Inc. Prudential and Kaiser Permanente.

In addition to Tellez and Woodard, the company recently added several executives to its management team. Chris Bettner is Executive Vice President, Business

Development and has over 16 years of experience in health care sales and management. Prior to joining the company, Bettner was Vice President of Sales for Blue Shield of California and has served in executive level positions with other notable health insurance companies, including LifeGuard, Independence Blue Cross and MetLife.

Yanping Dong is Sterling HSA Chief Sales Officer. Dong was previously Director of Sales for Health Net with responsibility for sales, marketing, and operations serving Asian members in California. Dong has also worked for Blue Shield of California.

Jesse Thomas is a new Account Manager for Sterling HSA and was most recently with a Bay Area non-profit focused on improvements in women's health.

HSAs were established as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. Eligible individuals can establish HSAs for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2003.

For more information on health savings accounts and Sterling HSA, go to www.sterlinghsa.com.