Accreditation Affirms HealthAmerica(R) and HealthAssurance(R) Commitment to Improving the Health of Members; Plans Earn Top Quality Ranking from the NCQA.

HARRISBURG, Pa. & PITTSBURGH -- HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance have been awarded Excellent Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the highest accreditation status possible. Excellent Accreditation is granted to those health insurers that meet the NCQA's rigorous standards and have outstanding programs to improve the quality of health care their members receive.

The Excellent Accreditation applies to the insurers' HealthAmerica HMO, the HealthAssurance point-of-service (POS), and Advantra Medicare Advantage HMO plans in Pennsylvania.

"We are proud of the results," said Robert L. Dawson, president and chief executive officer of HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance. "It is gratifying to see our comprehensive efforts to maintain and improve the health of our members recognized by one of the nation's leading quality organizations."

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. Its accreditation is a nationally recognized evaluation that purchasers, regulators, and consumers can use to assess managed care plans. NCQA accreditation evaluates how well a health plan manages all parts of its delivery system--physicians, hospitals, other providers, and administrative services--in order to continuously improve health care for its members. Of all health plans in the nation, over 200 commercial insurers currently hold NCQA accreditation, and of those plans, approximately 187 have the Excellent status.

"Earning Excellent Accreditation reflects a health plan's ability to work with its members and physicians to improve the quality of clinical care," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "It shows that the plan is building the kinds of partnerships that are critical to delivering great care and great service."

In 2005, HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance were ranked among the top 40 commercial health plans in the nation in the joint U.S. News and World Report/NCQA listing of "America's Best Health Plans." Their Medicare Advantage plan was ranked among the top 30 in the nation.

The accreditation affirms HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance's efforts to improve the health of their members. In the recent accreditation report, the health plans achieved exceptional ratings in two areas that affect millions of Americans:

Helping Members with Heart Disease. HealthAmerica's commercial and
    Medicare Advantage plans scored better than 75 percent of the
    plans in their regions and among the top 10 percent of plans in
    the nation on key measures related to the prevention and
    management of heart disease. The measures used to arrive at this
    conclusion included beta-blocker use after a heart attack,
    cholesterol management after an acute cardiovascular event, and
    controlling high blood pressure.

    Improving Diabetes Care. HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance also
    scored better than 75 percent of the plans in their regions on key
    measures related to the healthy management of diabetes. The
    measures in this composite look at the percentage of diabetic
    members who had eye exams as well as critical blood tests and
    other screenings.

"These ratings are clear evidence of the positive affect we are having on the health of our members," said Josh Bennett, M.D., vice president of quality at HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance. "Many of the most common chronic health problems, with the right combination of medical treatments and lifestyle choices, do not need to be debilitating or life-threatening."

About HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance

HealthAmerica Pennsylvania, Inc., has a 30-year record of providing health care benefits. HealthAmerica, HealthAssurance Pennsylvania, Inc., and affiliate companies cover over 720,000 members in Pennsylvania and Ohio through PPO, POS, HMO, Medicaid, and Medicare Advantage plans. In addition, HealthAmerica offers a product for individuals and families who are not eligible for employer-sponsored health care benefits, Medicare, or Medicaid, called HealthAmericaOne. HealthAmerica earned an "Excellent" Accreditation for its HMO plan and HealthAssurance earned an "Excellent" Accreditation for the HealthAssurance POS by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America's health care. With corporate offices in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance provide managed health care products and services to over 12,000 employers in Pennsylvania and Ohio. HealthAmerica and its affiliates employ over 1,500 people in Pennsylvania. For more information, visit HealthAmerica's website at www.healthamerica.cvty.com.

HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance are subsidiaries of Coventry Health Care, Inc., a national managed health care company based in Bethesda, Maryland operating health plans, insurance companies, network rental / managed care services companies, and workers' compensation services companies. Coventry provides a full range of risk and fee-based managed care products and services, including HMO, PPO, POS, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, Medicaid, Workers' Compensation and Network Rental to a broad cross section of employer and government-funded groups, government agencies, and other insurance carriers and administrators in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. More information is available on the Internet at www.cvty.com and www.firsthealth.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, relating to future events or future financial performance. Actual performance may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties, including those described in Coventry Health Care, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, as filed with the SEC.