2008-05-14 04:24:00 -

- AmeriChoice, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, was notified by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) that it was awarded a contract to continue to serve select counties throughout the state, including the state's largest counties, Maricopa and Pima, which include Phoenix and Tucson. The new contract will be effective on October 1, 2008 and will run

for three years with the option for two one-year renewal periods. With this award, AmeriChoice will continue to be one of Arizona's largest Medicaid managed care partners.

Dr. Rodney Armstead, CEO of AmeriChoice's APIPA Health Plan, said, "We are pleased to be continuing our longstanding relationship with AHCCCS. It is among the nation's most innovative and long standing Medicaid programs and this provides us the opportunity to continue our partnership in providing high quality, community based health care for its beneficiaries."

Rick Jelinek, CEO of AmeriChoice, said, "This major contract award, combined with our recent wins in Tennessee, demonstrates the strong momentum in our public and state sponsored programs. We are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving Arizona's citizens through this important program."

UnitedHealth Group and AmeriChoice have served the Medicaid population in Arizona since the inception of the AHCCCS program, the first program to contract the majority of its Medicaid beneficiaries through managed care.

About AmeriChoice

Currently serving more than 1.8 million members in 18 states, AmeriChoice, a UnitedHealth Group company, is a diversified health services company dedicated to helping states, localities, and other government agencies facilitate care for the economically impoverished, the medically underserved and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.

For more information, visit www.americhoice.com.

For AmeriChoice
Kathleen Harrington, 202-821-2369
kathleen_m_harrington@uhc.com