Insphere Insurance Solutions® Structures Management Team for Accelerated Growth

DALLAS & FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc. (http://www.insphereis.com) today announced it has made changes to its senior management team. The company has added R. Scott Donovan as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Michael Burson as Senior Vice President, Sales and appointed Mark H. Smith as Executive Vice President, Chief Agency Officer and Steven J. Hatem as Senior Vice President, Sales.

Insphere Insurance Solutions is a distribution company focused on meeting the insurance needs of individuals (including the senior market), families and small businesses. The Insphere portfolio includes highly rated life, health, senior, long-term care and retirement insurance products from recognized carriers.

“I am extremely pleased to announce these changes to Insphere's senior management team,” said Kenneth J. Fasola, President and Chief Executive Officer of Insphere Insurance Solutions. Each of these individuals are well respected, insurance-industry veterans who will play important roles for the company as we focus on expanding our field force and gaining additional market share through the development of new distribution channels under the Insphere Insurance Solutions brand.”

“Mark Smith has been given an expanded role with Insphere and now serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Agency Officer. Mark directs sales as well as all aspects of Insphere's business strategy,” said Fasola.

“Scott Donovan is new to the management team and will serve as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer for Insphere,” said Fasola. “Scott is a talented leader with more than 30 years of industry and finance experience. He understands this business, our direction and will help us take advantage of potential opportunities to accelerate growth at Insphere.”

Prior to joining Insphere, Donovan served as Executive Vice President of Odyssey Reinsurance Corporation and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Odyssey Re Holdings Corp.

“Also new to Insphere is Mike Burson who will serve as Senior Vice President of Sales. Mike spent more than 30 years with New York Life Insurance Company and has extensive experience recruiting and developing talent in a field agency environment,” said Fasola. “Mike is a natural fit in our organization and we will leverage his deep understanding of the agency business model in an effort to expand the distribution capacity at Insphere.”

“We have also expanded the responsibilities of Steve Hatem, who has been a highly respected leader in our field hierarchy for many years. Steve will now serve on the management team as Senior Vice President of Sales,” said Fasola. “In their new roles, Mike and Steve will partner with Chris Mason, Senior Vice President, Life Sales and Agency Distribution who directs the sales strategy for life insurance as well as managing Insphere's field offices in the Pacific Northwest. This team will direct the implementation of programs aimed at driving net manpower growth and increasing agent productivity in all lines of business.”

About Insphere Insurance Solutions^®

Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc. is a distribution company that specializes in meeting the life, health, long-term care and retirement insurance needs of small businesses and middle-income individuals (including the senior market) and families through its portfolio of highly rated products offered by recognized national and regional insurance carriers. Insphere is an authorized agency in all 50 states and the District of Columbia with approximately 3,000 agents nationwide. For more information, please visit www.insphereis.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR PURPOSES OF THE “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

Some of the matters discussed in this news release may contain forward-looking statements regarding HealthMarkets, Inc. (the “Company”) and/or its Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc. (“Insphere”) business that are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements are intended to be identified in this document by the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "objective," "plan," "possible," "potential" and similar expressions. Actual results may vary materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, national health care reform legislation, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations; changes in government regulation that could increase our costs or otherwise impact the way we do business; failure to comply with extensive state and federal regulations, which could subject us to fines, penalties and suspensions; state and federal regulations which could impede our ability to obtain effective leads and adversely affect our business; compliance with restrictions on customer privacy and information security; a rapid reduction in the size of the in-force block of the Company's health benefits plans, which could result in a reduction in premium revenue and underwriting profits that might not be replaced fully by our other lines of business; loss of business to competitors; failure to recruit and retain productive agents, which could prevent Insphere from competing successfully; changes in our relationship with membership associations and/or changes in association product benefits; negative publicity regarding our business practices and about the health insurance industry in general; the Company's inability to obtain funds from its insurance subsidiaries, which may cause it to experience reduced cash flow, which could affect the Company's ability to pay its obligations to creditors as they become due; failure to accommodate redemption requests by agents participating in the ISOP, which could result in dissatisfaction and attrition among agents; a decrease in the value of our investments; adverse securities and credit market conditions, which could have a material adverse affect on our liquidity or our ability to obtain credit on acceptable terms; failure of the Company's insurance subsidiaries to maintain their current insurance ratings or sufficient statutory capital and surplus to continue to write business; failure to accurately estimate medical claims and health care costs; the need for the Company's insurance subsidiaries to increase reserves due to inadequacy of reserves maintained for current and future claims; litigation or settlements thereof, which may result in financial losses or harm our reputation and may divert management resources; financial, managerial and operational challenges presented by acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions; uncertainties relating to the long-term success of Insphere, which is a relatively new business, including, but not limited to, the ability of Insphere to maintain satisfactory relationships with insurance carriers and agents; certain risks faced by Insphere related to its relationships with non-affiliated insurance carriers including, but not limited to, the risk that in any particular market, carriers could terminate their contracts with us (or refuse to contract with us), demand lower commissions or take other actions, including litigation, which could adversely affect our business; failure of our information systems to provide timely and accurate information; our reliance on outsourcing arrangements, which could subject us to risk and may disrupt or adversely affect our operations; the inability to retain key executives or appropriately manage succession could adversely affect our business; and the other risk factors set forth in the reports filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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