FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tuesday, October 17, 2000	Diane Landry King (301) 838-5636

PIEDMONT HEALTH ALLIANCE JOINS MAMSI IN NORTH CAROLINA

Research Triangle Park, NC - Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Inc. (MAMSI) (NYSE: MME) announced today that the Piedmont Health Alliance, Inc. (PHA) has joined the network of two of its subsidiaries operating in North Carolina.

The PHA is a coalition of three hospitals and over 400 physicians and practitioners serving the Unifour area of western North Carolina. The hospitals, physicians and practitioners are located in the counties of Alexander, Burke, Catawba, Caldwell and Lincoln. PHA now participates with MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Company (MLH) and Alliance PPO, LLC (Alliance) in North Carolina.

"The addition of the Piedmont Health Alliance to our ever-growing network is welcome news to our members and clients," said Jim Bendel, Regional Vice President. "This greatly increases the number of physicians and practitioners MLH members and Alliance participants may select."

Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Inc. is one of the mid-Atlantic region's largest managed care companies, with subsidiaries covering approximately 1.8 million lives in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Total membership in North Carolina is over 100,000. The Company's Internet address is www.mamsi.com.

# # #

Note 1: Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All forward-looking information or statements contained in this release, including expectations regarding future or continued performance, are based on management's current knowledge of factors, all with inherent risks and uncertainties, affecting MAMSI's business. MAMSI's actual results may differ materially if these assumptions prove invalid. Significant risk factors, while not all-inclusive, are: the possibility of increasing price competition in the Company's marketplace; the possibility that the Company is not able to increase its market share at the anticipated premium rate; the possibility of increased litigation, legislation or regulation that might increase regulatory oversight which, in turn, would have the potential for increased costs; the possibility of increased medical expenses due to increased utilization, inflation or legislative mandates; and the possibility that the Company is not able to negotiate new or renewal contracts with appropriate physicians and health care practitioners. Investors should review other risks and uncertainties contained in Company documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.