Stocks to Watch – Independence Holding Company (Public, NYSE: IHC)

Independence Holding Company (IHC) serves as a holding company that provides life and health insurance business. It offers specialized life and health coverage and related services to commercial customers and individuals. The Company has two fully owned subsidiaries: Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York (Standard Security Life) and Madison National Life Insurance Company, Inc. (Madison National Life) which market their products through independent and affiliated brokers, producers and agents.

Medical Stop-Loss

The Company serves as writer nationally of excess or stop-loss insurance for self-insured employer groups that desire to manage the risk of large medical claims (Employer Medical Stop-Loss). This provides coverage to public and private entities that elect to self-insure their employees’ medical coverage for losses within specified ranges.

This coverage is accessible on either a specific or a specific and aggregate basis, even though the majority of the Company’s policies cover both specific and aggregate claims. Plans are designed to fit the identified needs of the self-insured employer by offering a variety of:

Fully Insured Health Products

IHC also sells group major medical insurance which includes consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) primarily to small employers. These products are marketed in the majority of states. It also provides a group medical plan to employers who are contractors working on government-funded projects under the Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Acts.  The Company also sells group and individual dental products in the majority of states.

Group Disability; Life, Annuities and DBL

IHC also markets group long-term disability (LTD) products to employers that wish to provide this benefit to their employees. Consequently, benefit payments are reduced by the following:

• Social security
• Workers compensation
• Pension benefits
• Other income replacement payment

Individual Life, Annuities and Other

This category includes insurance products that are in runoff as a result of the Company’s decision to discontinue writing such products as:

• Blocks of business that were acquired from other insurance companies
• Individual life and annuities written through Madison National Life’s military and civilian government employee division
• Blanket accident insurance sold through a specialized general agent, and certain miscellaneous insurance products

This also includes individual accident and health, individual life, single premium immediate annuities, disability income, accidental medical, accidental death, and accidental death and dismemberment insurance for athletes, executives and entertainers, and miscellaneous insurance business.

Independence Holding Company (Public, NYSE: IHC) 52 week:  6.81 – 11.10 Mkt cap: 170.72M Shares: 16.42M