Press Release

Buyers Health Care Action Group Selects PharmaCare as Preferred PBM; Company to Provide Services for Up to 1/2 Million Members

LINCOLN, R.I., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmaCare, one of the nation's leading
prescription benefit managers (PBMs), announced today that it has been selected
by the Buyers Health Care Action Group (BHCAG) as the preferred provider of
pharmacy benefit management services for its more than 500,000 members from
public and private organizations across the United States.

BHCAG is a coalition of over 30 employers including Minnesota Life, Jostens,
SUPERVALU and Park Nicollet, who combine their purchasing power and work closely
with health care providers and administrators to create a health care delivery
method that provides access to quality, cost-effective care for employees and
their families.

Effective January 1, 2005, PharmaCare will manage a comprehensive retail
pharmacy network and provide online claims processing, mail order, specialty and
formulary management services for coalition members. PharmaCare will also
implement a variety of patient-centric and clinical programs for BHCAG,
including initiatives that educate and empower members to make better informed
decisions about their care.

According to BHCAG CEO Carolyn Pare, "PharmaCare's proven performance and
solid reputation, its responsiveness to BHCAG's needs, the company's willingness
to be innovative with our employers, and competitive pricing were the key
factors in our choice."

BHCAG's review of potential PBMs began in March after the organization
identified areas where it felt it could improve its pharmacy benefit structure,
including: better alignment of incentives for employees, employers, pharmacists,
physicians and the PBM; accountability for all these stakeholders; transparent
pricing and reporting of all costs; and the use of technology to promote
e-prescribing for improved patient safety.

"We recognized that no single PBM could currently provide us everything we
wanted so the question became, 'Who would be the best partner to get us there in
the future?' and PharmaCare was the clear choice," said Laurie Fenwick, manager
of employee benefits at Minnesota Life, one of the coalition members.

During the next three years, the two organizations will work together to
develop creative ways to evolve BHCAG's pharmacy benefit program, including
offering coalition members such programs as GENesisTM and PatientAlertTM
designed to boost generic utilization among employees by educating them about
cost-effective equivalents of the brand prescriptions they are currently
taking.

Another critical component of BHCAG's decision, according to Paul Wernick, a
consultant with the firm of Watson Wyatt who managed the vendor selection
process, was customer service. Renowned in the industry for receiving top marks
in customer satisfaction, Wernick said, "The employers are very excited to move
forward with PharmaCare."

"We take a leading-edge approach to health care purchasing and PharmaCare
complements key aspects of our philosophy," explained Pare. "One of our top
priorities is to educate members about factors driving health care costs and
what they can do to help control them. PharmaCare's patient-centric programs
will help increase employees' knowledge and responsibility for their health care
decisions and move us closer to our vision of consumer-driven health care."

"Throughout the selection process, we proved we were flexible and responsive
to BHCAG's needs, and that set us apart from the competition" said Greg Weishar,
PharmaCare's President and CEO. "BHCAG's selection of PharmaCare firmly
establishes our position as a leader in the industry and we are eager to work
with the coalition members to develop innovative programs and services that will
help them continue to revolutionize the health care system."

About BHCAG

Formed in 1988 to reshape health care delivery, the over 30-member BHCAG
employer coalition works to improve the quality and efficiency of health care,
increase provider competition and enhance consumer knowledge of health care and
responsibility for their health decisions.