Tampa Bay Benefits is Humana's charitable giving program for Tampa Bay nonprofit organizations that improve the community through their work in the areas of mind, body and spirit. Each year, Humana will award a $100,000 grant to a local nonprofit organization working for bay area residents and their neighbors in one of these areas of community service.

Nearly 100 Tampa Bay nonprofit organizations and charitable agencies applied this summer for Humana's inaugural $100,000 Tampa Bay Benefits grant. Tampa Bay Benefits gave emphasis to grant proposals that focus on the educational, cultural and health needs of bay area children, families and seniors.

A panel of prestigious bay area business, civic and community leaders, comprised of Karen Arnold of Storr Office Environments; Julie Britton, vice president with the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center; Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, Tampa attorney and former Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride; Ken Otero, deputy superintendent, Hillsborough County Public Schools; Katie Scanlan, senior vice president with Bank of America; Hillsborough County employee benefits director Christina Swanson; and, University of Tampa President Dr. Ronald Vaughn, evaluated the Tampa Bay Benefits grant applications and selected the inaugural Tampa Bay Benefits grant recipient in September from three grant finalists - The Centre for Women, American Red Cross Tampa Bay Chapter and Freedom Playground Foundation.

"We're proud to recognize and reward The Centre for Women," said Barger, "and we hope that Humana's annual charitable giving program will have a significant and meaningful impact on promoting healthy lives and healthy communities in Tampa Bay."

The Centre for Women plans to use its Tampa Bay Benefits $100,000 grant to build a training suite at its warehouse facility in Tampa to train individuals in basic construction skills for the nonprofit's successful and growing Senior Home Improvement Program.

SHIP provides emergency home repairs, wheelchair ramps and other handicap retrofits for low-income seniors in Hillsborough County, allowing them to remain safe and independent in their own homes for as long as possible. Building a training suite will provide dedicated space and the opportunity to recruit individuals, even those with no skills or experience, to receive formal construction skills training.

 "We're so honored to receive this grant from Humana," said The Centre for Women Executive Director Beth Ficquette. "So many seniors have no resources or help to make home repairs for things like broken plumbing, leaky roofs, sagging floors and rotted exteriors, and this award will significantly increase The Centre for Women's capacity to fulfill our mission to serve seniors in need in our community."
The Tampa Bay Benefits grant must be used for a specified program, with no more than 15 percent of the contribution used to support the nonprofit group's administrative costs.

About the 2006 Tampa Bay Benefits Finalists

• The Centre for Women: Founded in 1977 by former Florida Sen. Helen Gordon Davis of Tampa, The Centre's mission is to provide hope, knowledge and peace of mind through services that promote independence and strengthen our community. The Centre for Women was one of the first organizations to provide gender-specific counseling and employment services for women in Florida. Today, The Centre for Women provides services to 5,000 women, girls and seniors in the Tampa Bay area each year. For more information, visit www.centreforwomen.org.
• American Red Cross, Tampa Bay Chapter: Since its inception in 1881, the American Red Cross has been the nation's premier provider of disaster relief assistance. The Tampa Bay chapter was founded in 1917 and serves 2.4 million residents in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. In 2005, the chapter reached more than 77,500 individuals with community services ranging from aquatics/water safety to disaster education to CPR and first aid training. The bay area chapter in the current fiscal year also provided more than $250,000 to some 548 area families displaced by emergencies, fires, windstorms and floods. For more information, go to www.redcrosstbc.org.
• Freedom Playground Foundation: Incorporated as a grassroots nonprofit foundation in June 2004, Freedom Playground's mission is to foster the values of inclusion and diversity by creating the city of Tampa's first universally accessible playground. The planned play environment will include the elements of art, nature, water and history for children with and without abilities to share the joy and freedom of play. For more information, visit www.freedomplayground.org.

About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation's largest publicly traded health benefits companies, with more than 11 million medical members.  Humana offers a diversified portfolio of health insurance products and related services - through traditional and consumer-choice plans - to employer groups, government-sponsored plans, and individuals.

Over its 45-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.

Humana is one of Tampa Bay's leading health benefits companies with more than 120,000 commercial health plan members and more than 66,000 Medicare members.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's Web site at http://www.humana.com.