Contact: John C. Barrett   (407) 282-5131

National Credentialing Firm Helps Managed Care Organization Facilitate Credentialing

Med Advantage to Provide Credentialing Services to CIGNA HeathCare in Mid-Atlantic Region

"We are extremely pleased to be chosen by CIGNA as their vendor and are very excited for the opportunity to work with their plans in the Mid-Atlantic region," said John C. Barrett, Senior Vice President of Med Advantage. "We are bridging the gap between managed care organizations and Credentials Verification Organizations (CVO) by setting up an opportunity to provide services in an expedited manner and almost totally paperless". "These are exciting times for CIGNA as we continue to build the premier managed care company in the Mid-Atlantic and Delaware Valley region," said Robert F. Van Dyke, Vice President, Network Management, CIGNA HeatlhCare Mid-Atlantic. "We fully expect our relationship with Med Advantage to support our ongoing National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accreditation efforts and to enhance our credentialing processes while at the same time reducing administrative costs."

Med Advantage, (http://www.med-advantage.com), a subsidiary of Professionals Group, Inc., is considered one of the largest CVOs in the country. Med Advantage is certified by NCQA* for all 10 elements and was one of the first CVO's accredited by URAC**. The database, which Med Advantage has compiled currently holds some 900,000 providers and has over 4.3 million elements verified according to both NCQA and The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations standards.

Professionals Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PICM) is a holding company for Med Advantage and several other insurance related subsidiaries.

CIGNA HealthCare, based in Bloomfield, Connecticut, is one of the nation's leading providers of health-benefit programs with products marketed in all 50 states and managed care networks serving 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. CIGNA HealthCare serves 914,000 members in the Mid-Atlantic Region and contracts with 22,000 providers and 185 hospitals.

* The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), located in Washington, DC, is an independent, non-profit organization that certifies credentials verification organizations and accredits managed care organizations.

** The American Accreditation HealthCare Commission / URAC is a non-profit entity founded in 1990 to establish accreditation standards for managed health care organizations. The Commission / URAC's broad based membership represents a diversity of health care constituencies; industry, provider, purchasers, consumers, and regulators. Purchasers and consumers look to Commission / URAC accreditation as a mark of distinction for a managed health care company. For more information about the Commission / URAC, visit their web site at WWW.URAC.ORG