HealthMarkets

HealthMarkets, Inc., formerly known as UICI, is headquartered in North Richland Hills, Texas.

HealthMarkets, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryInsurance
Founded1983
HeadquartersNorth Richland Hills, Texas, United States
Area served
USA
Websitewww.healthmarketsinc.com

History

HealthMarkets was founded in 1983 by Ronald Jensen under United Insurance Companies, Inc. (UICI)[1] Through its focus on the then-untapped market of self-employed workers, the company was able to grow earnings by more than double between 1984 and 1985. In 1986, UICI made its first public stock offering.

In October 2004, The MEGA Life & Health Insurance Co, a subsidiary of UICI, acquired HealthMarket Inc, which was a small business insurer. Then, in 2005, a group of private equity investors headed by The Blackstone Group acquired HealthMarkets Inc, moving the company from public to private owned.[2] The MEGA Life & Health Insurance Co. brand was officially renamed to HealthMarkets Inc to convey its new consumer focus.

Between 2008 and 2010, several lawsuits were filed against HealthMarkets, Inc., resulting in the Company paying millions of dollars in settlements.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] As of 2010, HealthMarkets no longer offers Scheduled Benefit plans and has discontinued marketing individually underwritten plans.

Organization Structure

Subsidiaries of HealthMarkets, Inc. include the following entities:

The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company is an underwriting company for both insurance and non-insurance products marketed under the SureBridge brand name.

HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, Inc., formerly known as Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc., is licensed as an insurance agency in all 50 states. The company offers individual policies as well as life insurance, supplemental insurance, Medicare, dental insurance, vision insurance, and long-term plans from national and regional carriers through a network of more than 3,000 licensed agents, online, or over the phone. HealthMarkets Insurance Agency also includes independent brokerages Excelsior Insurance Brokerage, Inc. and Benefitter Insurance Solutions, a San Francisco-based technology company providing employee benefit decision support tools to brokers, small businesses and their employees.

Health and Government

In 2017 HealthMarkets unveiled #OurCare, a non-partisan website that aims to cut through the rhetoric relating to America's healthcare system in order to help the public communicate what it really wants in healthcare reform. #OurCare, which is available at OurCareBill.org, enables consumers, healthcare professionals, and business owners alike to build their own healthcare "bill" and share it with state and federal representatives.

References
  1. "History of UICI". International Directory of Company Histories. 33. St. James Press. 2000. para. 2. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. "Consortium Led by Blackstone Group to Acquire UICI" (Press release). September 15, 2005. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  3. Helfan, Duke (October 21, 2010). "Health insurer HealthMarkets sued by L.A. city attorney over 'junk insurance'". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 23, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  4. Fitzgerald, Jay (September 1, 2009). "Insurer to pay $17M to state". The Boston Herald.
  5. Krasner, Jeffrey (August 24, 2007). "State suit alleges health insurers denied benefits". The Boston Globe.
  6. Cooney, Elizabeth (September 1, 2009). "Insurer settles for $17m ; State says firm denied claims, misled customers". The Boston Globe.
  7. Pugh, Tony (December 23, 2013). "'Junk Insurance' Can Fail to Offer Financial Cure". Telegraph Herald. Retrieved August 23, 2014 – via Questia Online Library.
  8. "Daily roundup". The Columbian. July 22, 2008.
  9. Bell, Tom (April 4, 2008). "Insurer fined $1 million by state bureau ; MEGA expects to begin mailing customer refunds within the next 60 days". Portland Press Herald.
  10. Butterworth, Jill (September 1, 2009). "ATTORNEY GENERAL COAKLEY REACHES $17 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH HEALTH INSURERS REGARDING UNFAIR, DECEPTIVE CONDUCT". US Fed News Service.
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