The progress and continued success of CareFirst are the direct result of your faith in our future. We remain grateful and deeply appreciative of your commitment to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand. We are gratified by the trust you place in CareFirst and proud of our role in securing your sense of well-being. We share your confidence in the future of CareFirst as a leading health care company in the Mid-Atlantic region.

We continue to pursue a strategic plan for CareFirst built upon a simple concept: the company best fulfills its purpose in the marketplace by providing its members with quality health care that is both affordable and accessible. Toward that objective, CareFirst remains open to new approaches and innovative alliances. Our company achieved its current position of regional leadership by developing regional networks of highly respected medical professionals, introducing innovative products and by encouraging our members to participate in our preventive medicine and care management initiatives. We are committed to continuing on the path that has brought CareFirst to its present position of strength.

The progress set forth in this report is the result of the continuing high standard of professional performance by CareFirst associates and a company-wide willingness to confront the many challenges presented by the new generation of health care. Also in this report we set out our “case for change” — the specific reasons why our proposal to become a for-profit company and merge with WellPoint Health Networks is in the best interests of our members, our customers, our business partners in the medical profession and of the communities we serve.

As we look to the future, we recognize the necessity to remain flexible and to adopt creative approaches if we are to keep pace with the changes reshaping modern health care. For that reason, we will continue to invest in new technologies and procedures, explore the many opportunities presented in the age of e-commerce and reach out to the sources of capital needed to support these strategies.

The milestones reached in 2001 are evidence of CareFirst’s commitment to service, quality health care and quality health care management. As we take bold steps to secure our future, we reaffirm that commitment. CareFirst is grateful for your support in the past and will continue to focus on what we must do to always merit your confidence and trust in the future.

William L. Jews
President and Chief Executive Officer