HealthMarkets Joins Lance Armstrong Foundation in Fight against Cancer.

HealthMarkets sponsors the 2007 LIVESTRONG Challenge in Austin

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas -- HealthMarkets (http://www.healthmarkets.com) announced today that it is joining the Lance Armstrong Foundation's fight against cancer by contributing $50,000 and becoming a proud sponsor

of the 2007 LIVESTRONG[R] Challenge in Austin, Texas on Oct. 13-14. The LIVESTRONG Challenge (http://livestrongchallenge.org) allows people to do something bold in the face of cancer by raising funds to support the foundation's mission to inspire and empower people affected by cancer.

HealthMarkets is a leading provider of affordable health and life insurance to the self-employed, individuals and small businesses through its subsidiaries, The MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of Tennessee and The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company.

"Developing a relationship with the Lance Armstrong Foundation will allow us to better support our members who have been diagnosed with cancer and help them cope with this struggle," said William Gedwed, president and CEO of HealthMarkets. "Together, we are helping people with cancer live life on their own terms."

The LIVESTRONG Challenge is an annual series of fundraising events in which participants can walk, run or ride to support efforts to assist those diagnosed with cancer. Austin will be the third LIVESTRONG Challenge city this year. In August, LIVESTRONG Philadelphia raised more than $2 million. A Portland, Ore., LIVESTRONG event took place Sept. 29-30, garnering donations of more than $1.7 million.

"We are delighted to welcome HealthMarkets as a sponsor of the LIVESTRONG Challenge in Austin," said Doug Ulman, president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. "The company's support of the Foundation's efforts, as well as their plans to provide LIVESTRONG Survivorship Notebooks to their members living with cancer, reflect a true commitment to their members and to the cause of cancer survivorship."

Funds raised through the LIVESTRONG Challenge enable the Foundation to continue helping people across the nation with the physical, emotional and practical challenges of cancer. Since its inception in 1997, the LAF has raised more than $204 million to support its mission, including providing funds to cancer survivorship programs, research, and patient care and advocacy organizations throughout the United States.