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Exhibit 31 (a)

CERTIFICATION

I, Charles G. Berg, President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:



| | 1. |  | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Oxford Health
Plans, Inc.;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
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| | 2. |  | Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
the period covered by this annual report;
|
| | 3. |  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this annual report, fairly present in all
material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
this annual report;                            
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| | 4. |  | The registrants other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures for
the registrant and have:                                                                                                                                                               



| | a) |  | designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that
material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
entities, particularly during the period in which this annual report
is being prepared;
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| | b) |  | evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure
controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this
annual report (the Evaluation Date); and                                                                                                                   
|
| | c) |  | presented in this annual report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our
evaluation as of the Evaluation Date.                                                                                                                        



| | 5. |  | The registrants other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation, to the registrants auditors and the
audit committee of the registrants board of directors:
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| | a) |  | all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
internal controls which could adversely affect the registrants
ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data and
have identified for the registrants auditors any material weaknesses
in internal controls; and
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| | b) |  | any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
other employees who have a significant role in the registrants
internal controls; and                                                                                                                                        



| | 6. |  | The registrants other certifying officer and I have indicated in
this annual report whether there were significant changes in internal
controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal
controls subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including
any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and
material weaknesses.
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Date: February 4, 2004

| |     |                                      
| | --- | -------------------------------------
| | /s/ | CHARLES G. BERG                      
| |     |                                      
| |     | Charles G. Berg                      
| |     | President and Chief Executive Officer