East Jefferson General Hospital Joins Participating Provider Network Available to Members of Humana Health Plans in Louisiana NEW ORLEANS, La., April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana, Inc., today announced the signing of a participating provider agreement with East Jefferson General Hospital (EJGH) to deliver health care services to individuals and families enrolled in Humana's commercial medical plan and MedicareAdvantage (formerly Medicare+Choice) program. Under the participating provider agreement, Humana members will have access to all inpatient, outpatient and emergency services provided by the 450-bed East Jefferson General Hospital. The agreement also paves the way for members to have access to an additional 300 primary care and specialists physicians affiliated with EJGH and not currently in Humana's network. The participating provider agreement is effective May 1, 2004. "The addition of East Jefferson General Hospital is an important step in providing local employers and our health plan members access to a broad network of hospitals and physicians in the community," said Hassan Rifaat, M.D., president of Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana, Inc. "We are proud that members of Humana can now access this respected facility." "The expansion of our participating provider network is a key to Humana's commitment to provide affordable health care to small- and mid-size employers currently facing double digit increases in health benefit costs," added Dr. Rifaat. "To complement our growing provider network that Humana members value today, we will quickly move to expand our product offerings to include Humana's PPO product as well as our innovative consumer-choice solution called SmartSuite(SM). Nationally, businesses enrolled in SmartSuite have seen annualized medical cost trends that average only 3.8 percent, far below the national industry average of between 12 and 15 percent." East Jefferson General Hospital has served metropolitan New Orleans for more than thirty years. Located at 4200 Houma Boulevard in Metairie, it is a community owned, not-for-profit hospital providing a full range of healthcare services to the residents of the East Bank of Jefferson Parish and surrounding communities. "East Jefferson General Hospital is pleased to be a participant in the Humana provider network," said Mark J. Peters, M.D., CPE, president and chief executive officer of East Jefferson General Hospital. "Over 100,000 people in the New Orleans area will now have access to the health care services provided at EJGH. The hospital and its medical staff look forward to the opportunity to serve those in the Humana community." The addition of East Jefferson General Hospital further strengthens the Humana medical provider network, which now offers members a choice of 69 participating hospital providers and more than 4,400 physicians throughout Louisiana. About East Jefferson General Hospital East Jefferson General Hospital opened on February 14, 1971 with 250 beds and 250 physicians on staff. Today, East Jefferson General Hospital has more than 450 beds, nearly 800 physicians on staff, more than 2,700 team members, and over 500 volunteers. It is a service district hospital governed by a 10-member volunteer Board of Directors, appointed by the Jefferson Parish Council. The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and holds the honor of being Louisiana's first Nurse Magnet hospital, About Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana, Inc. Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana is one of the largest health benefit plans in the New Orleans market and the third largest in the state of Louisiana with approximately 152,000 commercial medical members, primarily in large group accounts, and approximately 31,000 members in the MedicareAdvantage program. Humana is licensed in all 64 of Louisiana's parishes. Humana earned an "Excellent" Accreditation status from the National Committee of Quality Assurance (NCQA). "Excellent" is the highest accreditation awarded by NCQA, an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America's health care. About Humana Inc. Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation's largest publicly traded health benefits companies, with approximately 7 million medical members located primarily in 19 states and Puerto Rico. Humana offers coordinated health insurance coverage and related services -- through traditional and Internet-based plans -- to employer groups, government-sponsored plans, and individuals. More information regarding Humana is available via the Internet at http://www.humana.com/ , including copies of: -- Annual report to stockholders; -- Securities and Exchange Commission filings; -- Most recent investor conference presentation; -- Quarterly earnings press releases; -- Audio archive of most recent earnings release conference call; -- Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates, times, and access number, as well as planned participation in investor conferences); -- Corporate Governance Information http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030425/HUMANALOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Humana Inc. CONTACT: Ross McLerran of Humana Corporate Communications, +1-210-617-1771, or ; or Valerie Englade of East Jefferson General Hospital Marketing Communications, +1-504-889-7110, or Web site: http://www.humana.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/423125.html

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