Coventry Health Care of Iowa to Offer Medicare Advantage Products.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Coventry Health Care of Iowa, Inc. (Coventry) today announced it has received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to begin offering Medicare Advantage products in five Iowa counties.

Under the contract effective July 1, 2005, Coventry will offer both health maintenance organization (HMO) and preferred provider organization (PPO) Medicare Advantage products in a market that includes approximately 106,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Polk, Black Hawk, Dallas, Scott, and Warren counties.

The HMO product, Coventry Advantra, focuses on preventive health care with oversight from each member's participating primary care physician. Alternatively, the PPO products - the first of their kind offered to people with Medicare in these five counties - offer out-of-network coverage for greater flexibility.

Premium costs for the products start as low as $0 per month. Anyone 65 or older or those with certain disabilities entitled to Medicare Parts A and B may apply for the coverage. Enrolled members must continue to pay their required Medicare premiums.

"We recognize that all Iowans deserve to have low-cost health care options to choose from, without sacrificing benefits or provider accessibility," stated Michael Teachout, Coventry's Chief Executive Officer. "We're proud to provide extensive choices to the commercial and Medicaid customers we already serve in our state, and look forward to now providing expanded options to Medicare beneficiaries."

Coventry, which has operated in the state for over 20 years, has a local office in West Des Moines that is staffed with an experienced team, including medical staff, focused exclusively on administering health care benefits. The organization helps ensure optimum medical care through review and analysis of clinical, utilization, and service data as part of a continuous improvement process.

"We are extremely excited to expand our health care expertise into the Medicare Advantage market," said Tami Rubino, Coventry's Director of Medicare Operations. "Our goal is to help people with Medicare receive convenient, high-quality health care and also reduce their overall out-of-pocket expenses."

More information on Coventry can be found on the Internet at www.chciowa.com or by calling 1-866-363-IOWA. Companies affiliated with Coventry already offer Medicare Advantage coverage options in four other states. Coventry is a subsidiary of Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE, CVH), a national managed health care company based in Bethesda, Maryland operating health plans, insurance companies, network rental services companies, and workers' compensation services companies.

Coventry Health Care, Inc. provides a full range of risk and fee-based managed care products and services, including HMO, PPO, POS, Medicare Advantage, 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.

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.