SEC Form 4

FORM 4		UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.5
	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* ACKERMAN JOEL (Last) (First) (Middle) COVENTRY HEALTH CARE, INC. 6705 ROCKLEDGE DR SUITE 900 (Street) BETHESDA MD 20817 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol COVENTRY HEALTH CARE INC [ CVH ]	5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) X Director 10% Owner Officer (give title below) Other (specify below)
	3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 01/01/2011
	4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
Non-qualified Stock Option (right-to-buy)	$26.4	01/01/2011		A		28,230		04/01/2011(1)	01/01/2021	Common Stock	28,230	$26.4	74,282(2)	D(3)

Explanation of Responses:

1. The stock options vest and are exerciseable in equal quarterly increments over a one-year period.

2. Includes the following: Table I-Non-Derivative Securities comprised of 3,291 shares of common stock held directly, 1,636 shares of common stock held indirectly, and 4,500 shares held directly as awards of restricted common stock with restrictions that lapsed in equal increments over three-year periods, and Table II- Derivative Securities comprised of non-qualified stock options for 28,230 shares of common stock vesting in equal quarterly increments over a one-year period, and 36,625 restricted stock units that vested in equal quarterly increments over one-year periods and are held through Coventry's Deferred Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors.

3. See Footnote 2 for shares held directly and indirectly.

	Shirley R. Smith on behalf of Joel Ackerman by Power of Attorney	01/03/2011
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number.