Touchstone Health Partnership appoints Bryan D. Birch as President and Chief Executive Officer

Touchstone Health Partnership, a managed care company primarily operating in the Medicare Advantage Program, today announced the appointment of Bryan D. Birch as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Birch brings over 20 years of experience in the health services and managed care sector.

Mr. Birch has a strong track record of growing businesses profitably. He joins Touchstone after serving five years at Medco Health Solutions where he was the Executive Officer and the President of Employer Accounts, a $15 billion business generating the majority of Medco profits. The Medco businesses under Mr. Birch's leadership grew 40%. Mr. Birch helped take Medco public in August 2003. Before Medco, he was the Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer at Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, where he was instrumental in developing the growth plan that increased membership from 3.8 to 4.6 million in three years in the Commercial and Medicare businesses. Mr. Birch was instrumental in taking Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield public in November 2002 as an Executive Officer which then became WellChoice.

"Bryan's appointment will ensure continued development of Touchstone's innovative mission to transform the healthcare experience by developing and offering plans which meet the individual and specific needs of our members," said Steve Wiggins, Touchstone Health Board member and Managing Director at Essex Woodlands Health Ventures.

Mr. Birch was also a Principal Founder of iHealth Technologies, a claims editing software company which was successfully sold to two Private Equity firms. Prior to iHealth, Mr. Birch was head of Medical Delivery Systems at Oxford Health Plans and later the CEO of Oxford Health Plans of CT. While at Oxford for seven years, membership grew from 80,000 to over 1.5 million. Prior to Oxford, Mr. Birch issued, structured and helped market revenue bonds for New Jersey Hospitals for 7 years. Mr. Birch has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Finance and a Masters degree in Health Administration from Temple University.