State-Sponsored Health Plans Rate Settlement Agreement	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
State-Sponsored Health Plans Rate Settlement Agreement [Abstract]
State-Sponsored Health Plans Rate Settlement Agreement	STATE-SPONSORED HEALTH PLANS RATE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT On November 2, 2012, our wholly owned subsidiaries, Health Net of California, Inc. and Health Net Community Solutions, Inc., entered into a settlement agreement (the "Agreement") with DHCS to settle historical rate disputes with respect to our participation in the Medi-Cal program, for rate years prior to the 2011–2012 rate year. As part of the Agreement, DHCS agreed, among other things, to (1) an extension of all of our Medi-Cal managed care contracts existing as of the date of the Agreement for an additional five years from their then existing expiration dates; (2) retrospective premium adjustments on all of our state-sponsored health care programs, including Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, SPDs, our proposed participation in the dual eligibles demonstration portion of the California Coordinated Care Initiative that is expected to begin in 2014 and any potential future Medi-Cal expansion populations (our “state-sponsored health care programs”), which will be tracked in a settlement account as discussed in more detail below; and (3) compensate us should DHCS terminate any of our state-sponsored health care programs contracts early. Effective January 1, 2013, the settlement account (the "Account") was established with an initial balance of zero. The balance in the Account is adjusted annually to reflect retrospective premium adjustments for each calendar year (referenced in the Agreement as a deficit or surplus). A deficit or surplus will result to the extent our actual pretax margin (as defined in the Agreement) on our state-sponsored health care programs is below or above a predetermined pretax margin target. The amount of any deficit or surplus is calculated as described in the Agreement. Cash settlement of the Account will occur on December 31, 2019, except that under certain circumstances the DHCS may extend the final settlement for up to three additional one-year periods (as may be extended, the "Term"). In addition, the DHCS will make an interim partial settlement payment to us if it terminates any of our state-sponsored health care programs contracts early. Upon expiration of the Term, if the Account is in a surplus position, then no monies are owed to either party. If the Account is in a deficit position, then DHCS shall pay the amount of the deficit to us. In no event, however, shall the amount paid by DHCS to us under the Agreement exceed $264 million or be less than an alternative minimum amount as defined in the Agreement. We estimate and recognize the retrospective adjustments to premium revenue based upon experience to date under our state-sponsored health care programs contracts. As of September 30, 2013, we had calculated and recorded a deficit of $51.7 million, net of a valuation discount in the amount of $3.7 million (see Note 8), reflecting our estimated retrospective premium adjustment to the Account based on our actual pretax margin for the nine months ended September 30, 2013. The retrospective premium adjustment is recorded as an adjustment to premium revenue and other noncurrent assets.

STATE-SPONSORED HEALTH PLANS RATE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

On November 2, 2012, our wholly owned subsidiaries, Health Net of California, Inc. and Health Net Community Solutions, Inc., entered into a settlement agreement (the "Agreement") with DHCS to settle historical rate disputes with respect to our participation in the Medi-Cal program, for rate years prior to the 2011–2012 rate year. As part of the Agreement, DHCS agreed, among other things, to (1) an extension of all of our Medi-Cal managed care contracts existing as of the date of the Agreement for an additional five years from their then existing expiration dates; (2) retrospective premium adjustments on all of our state-sponsored health care programs, including Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, SPDs, our proposed participation in the dual eligibles demonstration portion of the California Coordinated Care Initiative that is expected to begin in 2014 and any potential future Medi-Cal expansion populations (our “state-sponsored health care programs”), which will be tracked in a settlement account as discussed in more detail below; and (3) compensate us should DHCS terminate any of our state-sponsored health care programs contracts early.

Effective January 1, 2013, the settlement account (the "Account") was established with an initial balance of zero. The balance in the Account is adjusted annually to reflect retrospective premium adjustments for each calendar year (referenced in the Agreement as a deficit or surplus). A deficit or surplus will result to the extent our actual pretax margin (as defined in the Agreement) on our state-sponsored health care programs is below or above a predetermined pretax margin target. The amount of any deficit or surplus is calculated as described in the Agreement. Cash settlement of the Account will occur on December 31, 2019, except that under certain circumstances the DHCS may extend the final settlement for up to three additional one-year periods (as may be extended, the "Term"). In addition, the DHCS will make an interim partial settlement payment to us if it terminates any of our state-sponsored health care programs contracts early. Upon expiration of the Term, if the Account is in a surplus position, then no monies are owed to either party. If the Account is in a deficit position, then DHCS shall pay the amount of the deficit to us. In no event, however, shall the amount paid by DHCS to us under the Agreement exceed $264 million or be less than an alternative minimum amount as defined in the Agreement.

We estimate and recognize the retrospective adjustments to premium revenue based upon experience to date under our state-sponsored health care programs contracts. As of September 30, 2013, we had calculated and recorded a deficit of $51.7 million, net of a valuation discount in the amount of $3.7 million (see Note 8), reflecting our estimated retrospective premium adjustment to the Account based on our actual pretax margin for the nine months ended September 30, 2013. The retrospective premium adjustment is recorded as an adjustment to premium revenue and other noncurrent assets.