Coventry Health Care Subsidiaries to Begin Using Coventry Brand.

BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 1999--

Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:CVTY) announced today that its Principal Health Care subsidiaries will change the Principal in their names to Coventry effective January 1, 2000, pending final regulatory approvals.

All aspects of the health plans' operations, such as member coverage and access, remain unchanged.

"We are pleased to announce that our nine health plans operating under the Principal Health Care brand will now be using the Coventry Health Care brand," said Allen F. Wise, president and chief executive officer of Coventry. "This move will maintain the cohesive image of these plans while at the same time creating a new tie back to the parent organization."

Coventry merged with Principal Health Care on April 1, 1998. After the merger, the Principal Health Care plans continued to use the Principal brand name even though the Company was no longer affiliated with Principal Life Insurance Company. The new names of the Principal Health Care plans will be as follows: -0-

Current:                             Effective January 1, 2000:
--------                             --------------------------
Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of the
of the Carolinas, Inc.               Carolinas, Inc.(a)

Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of
of Delaware, Inc.                    Delaware, Inc.

Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of
of Georgia, Inc.                     Georgia, Inc.

Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of
of Indiana, Inc.                     Indiana, Inc.

Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of
of Iowa, Inc.                        Iowa, Inc.

Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of
of Kansas City, Inc.                 Kansas, Inc.

Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of
of Kansas City, Inc.,                Kansas, Inc.
Wichita Division

Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of
of Louisiana, Inc.                   Louisiana, Inc.

Principal Health Care                Coventry Health Care of
of Nebraska, Inc.                    Nebraska, Inc.

(a) Effective November 1, 1999

Coventry Health Care is a managed health care company based in Bethesda, Maryland operating health plans and insurance companies under the names Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, HealthAmerica, HealthAssurance, HealthCare USA, Group Health Plan, Southern Health and Carelink.

The Company provides a full range of managed care products and services including HMO, PPO, POS, Medicare Risk and Medicaid to 1.5 million members in a broad cross section of employer and government-funded groups in 15 markets throughout the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States. More information is available on the Internet at http://www.cvty.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

These statements relate to future events or future financial performance and may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.