HealthMarkets

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

HealthMarkets' subsidiary insurance companies, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company®, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of TennesseeSM, and The MEGA Life and Health Insurance CompanySM, offer supplemental insurance and selected life insurance products through independent agents. The subsidiary insurance companies also offer health benefit plans that comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in five states.)

Historically, the subsidiary insurance companies' health products were marketed to members of certain associations. Those associations included the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), The Alliance for Affordable Services (AAS) and Americans for Financial Security (AFS) through contractual relationships. In December 2009, the subsidiary companies discontinued their contractual relationship with NASE. Currently, the requirement of association membership for access to health plans varies by product and by state. Supplemental insurance plans available through Chesapeake do not require an association membership.

The company, rated #826 by Fortune (2006), is owned by a group of private equity investors, including affiliates of The Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, members of management and the Company’s independent, licensed agents through the Company’s agent stock accumulation plans. HealthMarkets won the Stevie Award for Insurance Sales Organization of the Year and was recognized in six other categories in the 2007 Selling Power Sales Excellence Award. HealthMarkets was also listed #189 by Forbes (2007) in their annual list of "America's Largest Private Companies" 

The company has been the subject of legal disputes and regulatory fines related to their business practices. In 2008, regulators from 35 states and the District of Columbia released a report outlining problems they said occurred from 2000 - 2005. Those included inadequate training and supervision of agents and delays in claims payments. The report included requirements for specific corrective actions. In a July 3, 2012 press release about the final settlement agreement, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak said, “HealthMarkets Inc. has made substantial improvements … (They) paid attention, implemented new controls and addressed virtually every problem identified in the original examination. This turnaround is a regulatory success.”