AmeriChoice and Baptist Memorial Health Care Sign Contract to Provide TennCare Services in West Tennessee

AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare and Baptist Memorial Health Care announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement to provide care and services to TennCare members in West Tennessee when the new program goes live on November 1, 2008.

AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare members will have access to care at all eight Baptist facilities in the state, including its flagship, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis , Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Desoto, just across the state line in Southaven, Miss.

Eric Paul, CEO of the AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare, said, “We are extremely pleased to be able to make the Baptist services available to our new members in West Tennessee. We share the same commitment to quality health care for TennCare beneficiaries, and our partnership reflects the significant commitment we both have made to the success of this vital program for the health of our state.”

“We are always glad to have the opportunity to provide quality health care services to our community,” said David Elliott, vice president of Baptist Memorial Health Care. “We are very supportive of the TennCare program, and this partnership will benefit our area greatly.”

About AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare

AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare will begin serving the TennCare Medicaid program in West Tennessee on November 1, 2008, becoming the only statewide risk based TennCare health plan. AmeriChoice by UnitedHealthcare is a unit of AmeriChoice, the UnitedHealth Group company that serves more than 2.2 million members of state health care programs in 22 states and the District of Columbia. AmeriChoice 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.

About Baptist Memorial Health Care

One of the largest not-for-profit health care systems in the United States, Baptist Memorial Health Care offers a full continuum of care to communities throughout the Mid-South. The Baptist system, which consistently ranks among the top integrated health care networks in the nation, comprises 15 hospitals in West Tennessee, North Mississippi and East Arkansas; more than 3,100 affiliated physicians; home, hospice and psychiatric care; minor medical centers and clinics; a network of surgery, rehabilitation and other outpatient centers; and an education system highlighted by the Baptist College of Health Sciences. Baptist has more than 2,600 licensed beds systemwide, employs more than 12,000 people and has approximately 85,000 admissions annually. In fiscal year 2007, Baptist provided $429 million in community benefit to the communities it serves. For more information about Baptist, please visit www.baptistonline.org or call 800-4-BAPTIST.