District of Columbia Department of Insurance Sets Public Hearing for ProAssurance and NCRIC Transaction

ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE: PRA) and NCRIC Group,
Inc. (NASDAQ: NCRI) today jointly announced that the District of
Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking ("DISB") has
set a public hearing to consider the proposed Agreement and Plan of
Merger dated February 28, 2005, by and between ProAssurance
Corporation and NCRIC Group, Inc.
   The public hearing will be held in the Old Council Chambers at 441
4th Street, NW in the District of Columbia, on June 6, 2005 at 10:00
am, Eastern Time. As previously disclosed in a joint press release
dated February 28, 2005, ProAssurance and NCRIC have agreed to a
transaction that would result in NCRIC becoming a wholly owned
subsidiary of ProAssurance.
   ProAssurance filed a Form A with the District of Columbia
Department of Insurance on April 15, 2005. The Form A substantially
incorporates by reference the Form S-4 Registration Statement
(Registration No. 333-124156) filed by ProAssurance with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission on April 19, 2005. The
notice of hearing can be viewed on the DISB website (www.disb.dc.gov)
or the website for ProAssurance (www.ProAssurance.com) or NCRIC
(www.ncric.com). Questions regarding the hearing can be directed to
DISB public information officer, Janice Ghenene at 202-442-7822. The
hearing will be open to the public.
   Investors and shareholders of ProAssurance and NCRIC Group are
urged to read the Registration Statement because it contains important
information regarding the transaction and their legal rights.
Investors and shareholders can obtain a free copy of the Registration
Statement as well as other documents filed by ProAssurance and NCRIC
Group with the Securities and Exchange Commission at the Securities
and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov, and from the
Investor Relations section of both companies' websites
(www.ProAssurance.com and www.NCRIC.com).
   These documents are also available without charge upon request to
either:
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    ProAssurance Corporation
    ------------------------
    Frank B. O'Neil
    Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications
    205-877-4460 or 800-282-6242
    [e-mail]

    NCRIC Group
    -----------
    Eric R. Anderson
    Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications
    202-969-3102 or 800-613-3615
    [e-mail]

*T

   NCRIC Group, Inc. and its respective directors and executive
officers, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of
proxies from the stockholders of NCRIC in connection with the proposed
merger. Information about the directors and executive officers of
NCRIC and their ownership of NCRIC common stock is set forth in the
proxy statement, dated April 26, 2005, for NCRIC's 2005 annual meeting
of stockholders, as filed with the SEC. You can obtain a free copy of
these documents at the Securities and Exchange Commission's website or
by contacting NCRIC Group at the address set forth above.

   About ProAssurance

   ProAssurance is a specialty insurer with more than $3.2 billion in
assets and $790 million in gross written premiums in 2004. As the
nation's fourth largest writer of medical professional liability
insurance, our principal professional liability subsidiaries, The
Medical Assurance Company, Inc., ProNational Insurance Company, and
Red Mountain Casualty Insurance Company, Inc., are recognized leaders
in developing solutions which serve the needs of the evolving health
care industry. We are the tenth largest writer of personal auto
coverage in Michigan through our subsidiary, MEEMIC Insurance Company.
   A.M. Best assigns a rating of "A-" (Excellent) to ProAssurance and
our principal professional liability subsidiaries and MEEMIC, Standard
& Poor's assigns our principal professional liability carriers a
rating of "A-" ("Strong"), and Fitch assigns a rating of "A-" to our
subsidiaries The Medical Assurance Company, ProNational Insurance
Company and MEEMIC Insurance Company.

   About NCRIC Group

   NCRIC is a healthcare financial services organization that assists
individual physicians and groups of physicians in managing their
practices by providing medical professional liability insurance,
practice management and financial services, and employee benefits plan
design and pension administration. In addition to its headquarters in
Washington, D.C., NCRIC has offices in Wilmington, Delaware;
Greensboro, North Carolina; Richmond and Lynchburg, Virginia; and
Charleston, West Virginia. NCRIC provides services to more than 4,700
physician clients.

   Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

   This news release contains historical information as well as
forward-looking statements that are based upon our estimates and
anticipation of future events that are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from
the expected results described in the forward-looking statements. The
words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "hopeful,"
"intend," "may," "optimistic," "preliminary," "project," "should,"
"will," and similar expressions are intended to identify these
forward-looking statements. There are numerous important factors that
could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements. Thus, sentences and phrases that we use to
convey our view of future events and trends are expressly designated
as Forward-Looking Statements as are sections of this news release
clearly identified as giving our outlook on future business. The
principal risk factors that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are
described in various documents we file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including Form 10K for the year ended December
31, 2004 and Form 10Q for the most recent quarter.
   These forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks,
assumptions and uncertainties, including, among other things, the
following important factors that could affect the actual outcome of
future events:

   Relating to the ongoing operations of the combined companies:

   --  General economic conditions, either nationally or in our
        market area, that are worse than expected;

   --  regulatory and legislative actions or decisions that adversely
        affect our business plans or operations;

   --  price competition;

   --  inflation and changes in the interest rate environment the
        performance of financial markets and/or changes in the
        securities markets that adversely affect the fair value of our
        investments or operations;

   --  changes in laws or government regulations affecting medical
        professional liability insurance and practice management and
        financial services;

   --  changes to our ratings assigned by A.M. Best;

   --  the effect of managed healthcare;

   --  uncertainties inherent in the estimate of loss and loss
        adjustment expense reserves and reinsurance; and changes in
        the availability, cost, quality, or collectibility of
        reinsurance;

   --  significantly increased competition among insurance providers
        and related pricing weaknesses in some markets.

   --  changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be
        adopted by our regulatory agencies and the Financial
        Accounting Standards Board; and

   --  changes in our organization, compensation and benefit plans.

   Relating to the proposed transaction with NCRIC:

   --  The business of ProAssurance and NCRIC may not be combined
        successfully, or such combination may take longer to
        accomplish than expected;

   --  the cost savings from the merger may not be fully realized or
        may take longer to realize than expected;

   --  operating costs, customer loss and business disruption
        following the merger, including adverse effects on
        relationships with employees, may be greater than expected;

   --  governmental approvals of the merger may not be obtained, or
        adverse regulatory conditions may be imposed in connection
        with governmental approvals of the merger;

   --  restrictions on our ability to achieve continued growth
        through expansion into other states or through acquisitions or
        business combinations; and

   --  the stockholders of NCRIC may fail to approve the merger.

   We wish to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, and
wish to advise readers that the factors listed above could affect our
financial performance and could cause actual results for future
periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed
with respect to periods in any current statements. We do not undertake
and specifically decline any obligation to publicly release the result
of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or
to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.