UnitedHealth Group to Purchase John Deere Health Care; Builds on John Deere Health Care 20-Year Service History to Important Local Customers; Advances Efforts to Make Health Care Services More Affordable, More Available and Easier to Use

Business Wire, Dec 6, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS -- UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) announced today that its UnitedHealthcare subsidiary has signed a definitive agreement with Deere and Company to acquire its John Deere Health Care business. This transaction will provide John Deere Health Care customers with significantly expanded access to national medical care resources while extending UnitedHealthcare's services to new areas in the Midwest.

John Deere Health Care provides an array of quality health care and benefit programs to customers who are located principally in Iowa, western and central Illinois and sections of Tennessee, which are service areas largely outside of those presently addressed by UnitedHealthcare. Continuity of services will be central to the new company, which will continue to be led by the current senior management of John Deere Health Care and remain headquartered in its existing facilities in Moline, Illinois. The company will focus on programs around health access and facilitation, quality advancement, and the use of new technologies to better support consumers and care providers. In that regard, John Deere Health Care members will gain access to the UnitedHealthcare nationwide system of health care providers, expanding the available access to care. Additionally, UnitedHealthcare will introduce established services and capabilities to further help Medicare and Medicaid enrollees, pre-Medicare retirees, under and uninsured individuals, and patients with chronic and complex illness.

Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory review and is expected in the first quarter of 2006.

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 more than 55 million individuals nationwide.

Parent Company: Deere & Company

John Deere (Deere & Company - NYSE:DE) is the world's leading manufacturer of agricultural and forestry equipment; a leading supplier of equipment used in lawn, grounds and turf care; and a major manufacturer of construction equipment and engines used in heavy equipment. Additionally, John Deere provides financial services and other related activities that support the core businesses. Since it was founded in 1837, the company has established a worldwide reputation of quality products and services providing performance that endures.

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