Carrick Capital Partners Welcomes Industry Leader, Kari L. Niblack, as President of Innovative Health Benefits Captive Company

Blackwell Captive Solutions to Serve Self-funded Health Plans

Carrick Capital Partners, a growth-oriented investment firm focused on technology-enabled businesses, is proud to welcome industry veteran, Kari L. Niblack, as the President of Blackwell Captive Solutions, a Carrick-sponsored medical stop-loss group captive management company.

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Kari L. Niblack, President of Blackwell Captive Solutions

Blackwell Captive Solutions will help ERISA plans reduce their expense for stop-loss insurance by providing a vehicle for those plans to pool their risks and thereby, reduce the cost of insuring any one member's claim. Additionally, Blackwell Captive Solutions will bring together industry best practices and services to control costs and support the health of the participating health plans. One such solution is Renalogic, the nation's leading cost containment and care management company focused on helping self-funded plans control the human and financial cost of chronic kidney disease. Renalogic, a Carrick-sponsored company, saves clients hundreds of thousands of dollars for any plan member who requires dialysis. Blackwell Captive Solutions will deploy Renalogic and other similarly impactful solutions to tangibly impact medical costs.

For most self-funded health plans managed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), one of the most important decisions they make is how much financial responsibility they want to accept in providing insurance benefits to the plan members. Most plans transfer risk beyond a certain dollar amount to a larger insurance company, which is referred to as a stop-loss insurer. That stop-loss insurer offers the plan a stop-loss insurance policy, which protects it from any claims above the agreed-upon stop-loss limit. In recent years the of cost buying stop-loss insurance has increased at ever-accelerating rates as underlying healthcare costs have increased. Blackwell is focused on providing plans a financially and clinically attractive alternative to securing stop-loss insurance.

"We are very excited to partner with Kari to grow Blackwell Captive Solutions," said Steve Unterberger, Partner at Carrick Capital Partners. "We believe that there is a significant need to help self-funded health plans better manage the rising cost of healthcare. By banding together, sharing best practices, and pooling risk, these plans can dramatically reduce the expense of providing quality health care insurance to their employees and members. We've been investing in this part of healthcare for many years and believe that with Kari's leadership and proven industry expertise, we can build a meaningful company that provides tangible impact to clients."

Kari Niblack has been an ERISA and employee benefits attorney involved in U.S. healthcare for more than twenty-five years. She has diverse experience across all stakeholder perspectives in healthcare, from health center administration, risk stratification, and claims administration to physician practice management and revenue cycle models for both insurers and providers. Most recently, she was the CEO of ACS Benefit Services, LLC, a third-party administrator based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In addition to her executive leadership roles spanning almost three decades in the self-funded industry, Kari regularly speaks and publishes on issues affecting self-funded health plans and currently serves as Chairwoman, Board of Directors, of the Self-Insurance Institute of America.

"I've been in the self-funded health benefits world for a long time, and I believe that the market is ready for a new type of stop-loss partner. Blackwell will be grounded in innovation, data, and best practices and dedicated not only to reducing costs but also to supporting health," commented Ms. Niblack. "We know health benefits brokers and the plans they represent are hungry for new ways to reduce costs and promote health. We named the company after Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, who blazed a trail of innovation as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. We take our inspiration from her unique courage to challenge the status quo."

Additional program partners beyond Renalogic will be announced in the coming weeks as Blackwell Captive Solutions continues to expand its cost containment and care management program.

About Carrick Capital Partners

Headquartered in San Francisco and Newport Beach, Carrick Capital Partners is a growth-oriented investment firm that utilizes ABV (Approach to Building Value) to operationally scale fast-growing, technology-enabled businesses. Carrick adds value by taking a concentrated approach and dedicating significant resources post-investment. Leveraging decades of experience, Carrick helps scale great companies that deliver excellent returns for investors, stimulating economic growth and positively impacting the industry landscape. Working directly with CEOs and entrepreneurs, Carrick fulfills a vital need for investment capital and growth expertise. For more information, please visit www.carrickcapitalpartners.com.

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