Nearly $1 Out of Every $10 Spent on Drugs for Children Now Used for Specialty
                                 Medications

SAN FRANCISCO, /PRNewswire/ -- New data released today finds that medications with the biggest price tags are more commonly being used by the youngest patients. According to the data, released by Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS), the number of children ages 19 and younger taking specialty drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has increased 133 percent in the past two years, and spending on these medications has grown 160 percent. Spending on specialty drugs, including rheumatoid arthritis, now make up almost 10 percent of the total dollars spent on all pediatric drugs.

Medco's analysis, which compared the prescription data of children ages 19 and younger over the first six months of 2004 to the same time period in 2002 showed the rate of increase of spending on rheumatoid arthritis drugs for children has surpassed that of human growth hormone therapy. In fact, spending on RA drugs is now the fastest growing specialty pharmaceutical in this age group. This drug trend exceeds the spending increase for traditional treatments for conditions like diabetes, asthma and allergy.

"The analysis clearly uncovers some good news -- that many children are now being treated with specialty medications, which can help to prevent some of the condition's long-term complications such as permanent disability," said Dr. Alan Lotvin, president, Medco's Specialty Pharmacy Services. "However, it's important with the use of drugs like these to maximize the coordination of care. These medications require close monitoring with both the patient and their physician to ensure proper use, compliance over time and effectiveness."

According to the Arthritis Foundation, approximately 300,000 children in the United States have some form of arthritis. While the total number of children with RA in the United States has remained fairly constant, the Medco data shows a major shift toward the use of specialty drugs to treat this population. In contrast to the increase in specialty drug use among children, the analysis found that the use of non-specialty drugs commonly used for treating juvenile RA declined 10 percent from 2003 to 2004.

"As recently as 2002, the use of specialty and biotech medications in children wasn't even a blip on the radar screen; however, in the first half of 2004, nearly $1 out of every $10 spent on medications for children was used for specialty drugs - a dramatic shift in prescription spending," continued Dr. Lotvin.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy -- Drug Spend Reaches New Heights

Spending on rheumatoid arthritis specialty medications overall is now higher than any other biotech category and has, for the first time, surpassed the cost of multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs. RA specialty medications have also shown the largest increase in costs, making up 44 percent of the drug trend for the whole specialty category in 2004, more than double the increase for MS specialty drugs, the second highest trend group at 21 percent.

The management of specialty drugs is a priority concern for Medco and its clients, and Medco has dedicated resources to managing the specialty pharmaceutical benefit, and optimizing the clinical and financial outcomes associated with these medications.

In 2002, the company created its Special Care Pharmacy at its Columbus facility and has since developed therapeutic Centers of Excellence solely dedicated to processing, dispensing and providing one-on-one consultation with highly trained pharmacists and nurses for a particular condition. The Special Care Pharmacy provides medications and resources for 20 different diseases, including RA, hemophilia, HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and Hepatitis C.

About Medco

Medco Health Solutions, a leading pharmacy benefit manager with the nation's largest mail order pharmacy operations, assists its customers to moderate the cost and enhance the quality of prescription drug benefits provided to members nationwide. Its customers include private- and public-sector employers and healthcare organizations. Medco is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MHS. On the Net: http://www.medcohealth.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward- looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this presentation should be evaluated together with the risks and uncertainties that affect our business, particularly those mentioned in the Risk Factors section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Medco Health Solutions, Inc.
/CONTACT: Ann Smith, Medco, (201) 269-5984, ann_smith@medco.com; or Janet
Schiller, Amanda Naiman, Coyne Public Relations, +1-973-316-1665/
/Web site: http://www.medco.com
http://www.medcohealth.com /
(MHS)