EVERCARE DONATES $100,000 TO FUND SCHOLARSHIPS AT THE JOHN A. HARTFORD FOUNDATION CENTERS OF GERIATRIC NURSING EXCELLENCE

"Evercare Scholars" to Become Leaders Focused on Improving Geriatric, Long-Term Care

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (August 17, 2006) - Evercare, a division of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), today announced that the company will donate $100,000 to fund scholarships for graduate nursing students at the Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, which are located at five top-tier universities across the country. The "Evercare Scholars" program was created to support the development of leaders in long-term care who will advance the nursing profession, shape public policy and improve the care and well-being of frail older adults. The grants will be awarded during the 2006-2007 academic year.

Evercare helps improve health outcomes for aging and elderly adults, individuals with chronic conditions and people with disabilities through health plans and services that use nurse practitioners and care managers to coordinate or deliver individualized, compassionate care.

"Nurses are at the heart of our care model, and through this donation we hope to help build the next generation of leaders in geriatric nursing," said Patricia A. Kappas-Larson, MPH, APRN-BC, senior vice president, Professional Relations and Development at Evercare. "Our goals in making this donation are to increase nurses' ability to bring innovation and quality into health care, advance the nursing profession and expand the role of nurses in helping to shape policy to improve our health system." Kappas-Larson also noted that Evercare is making this donation as it surpasses the enrollment of its 100,000th member.

"During the last decade, the John A. Hartford Foundation has made a broad and concerted investment in building our nation's capacity to provide high-quality nursing care to the growing number of older adults," said Corinne Rieder, EdD, executive director of the Foundation. "We are pleased to partner with Evercare to extend this investment and to create a cadre of leaders who can help support needed and systemic changes in long-term care."

Each $20,000 scholarship will be awarded to a graduate nursing student who is studying ways to improve health care delivered in long-term-care settings. The scholarship recipients will receive tuition assistance, and will be brought together during the course of their scholarship year to share their experiences, knowledge and research.

Each of the five Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence - which were established in 2000 as part of the Hartford Geriatric Nursing Initiative (HGNI) - will select an Evercare scholar. The Centers, which will administer the scholarship review and award process, are:

• Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Nursing
• University of California San Francisco School of Nursing
• University of Iowa College of Nursing
• University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

About the HGNI and John A. Hartford Foundation

Supported by more than $60 million in grants to date from the Foundation, the Hartford Geriatric Nursing Initiative is a unique, multifaceted initiative focused on the enhancement of the care of older adults through innovations in nursing practice, education, research, leadership and policy. In partnership with the nation's nursing schools and a variety of health care organizations and systems, this dynamic, national initiative is confronting the challenges associated with an aging patient population by:

• Shaping nursing practice to best meet the health care needs of older adults;
• Enhancing professional education to ensure all nurses are prepared to treat older patients;
• Promoting research needed to guide the care and promote the health of older people;
• Developing leadership in academic and professional settings; and
• Demonstrating nursing's commitment to enacting public policy that improves older Americans' health care.

The John A Hartford Foundation was founded in 1929 and has been at the forefront of pioneering advances in medicine and health care and funding research and programs that have literally revolutionized medicine and shaped the delivery of health care. In the 1980s, the Foundation began to focus on aging and health and today is the country's largest private foundation focused solely on aging and health.

About Evercare

Evercare coordinates health care and well-being services for people who are chronically ill, have disabilities or are aging or elderly. Started in 1987, Evercare today serves more than 100,000 people nationwide through a variety of Medicaid, Medicare, and private-pay health plans, programs and services in the home, the community and skilled nursing facilities. Evercare is part of Ovations, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company dedicated to the health care needs of Americans over age 50. For more information about Evercare, call 1-866-772-0859 (TTY 1-800-387-1074) or visit www.evercarehealthplans.com.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group (www.unitedhealthgroup.com) is a diversified health and well-being company dedicated to making health care work better. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through six operating businesses: UnitedHealthcare, Ovations, AmeriChoice, Uniprise, Specialized Care Services and Ingenix. Through its family of businesses, UnitedHealth Group serves approximately 70 million individuals nationwide.