State Farm, Assurant Health Renew National Distribution Alliance.

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- State Farm Insurance(R) and Assurant Health have renewed the national marketing alliance that makes Assurant Health's individual medical insurance products available through State Farm agents nationwide. The original alliance became official in July 2000 and marked the first time that State Farm had joined forces with a national health insurance provider.

Highlights of the renewed marketing alliance include:

-- A ten-year term with the option for either company to exit the alliance after five years.

-- A marketing program that will expand sales opportunities for both State Farm agents and their licensed staff.

"Over the past eight years, our alliance with Assurant Health has helped us meet the needs of our customers," said State Farm Executive Vice President, Administrative Officer -- Life and Vice President -- Health, Susan Waring. "The alliance allows us to offer a complete portfolio of quality individual medical insurance products -- from traditional health coverage to innovative High Deductible Health Plans that can be combined with Health Savings Accounts to better manage qualified healthcare expenses. Continuing this alliance means we can keep offering solutions to more of our current and future State Farm customers."

Nearly 17,000 agents currently sell State Farm insurance products and State Farm customers now comprise about one of every four households in the United States. Assurant Health is one of the nation's leading providers of individual medical and small group health insurance products.

"Our alliance with State Farm has proven to be beneficial to everyone involved," said Assurant Health President and CEO Don Hamm. "We are extremely pleased to be continuing this great relationship into the future and look forward to continued work with State Farm, our largest business alliance."

State Farm(R) insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 67,000 employees serve over 77 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.9 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 32 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://statefarm.com(r/) or in Canada http://statefarm.ca(r/).

Assurant Health has been in business since 1892 and is the brand name for products underwritten and issued by Time Insurance Company, John Alden Life Insurance Company and Union Security Insurance Company. Together, these three underwriting companies provide health insurance coverage for almost one million people nationwide. Each underwriting company is financially responsible for its own insurance products. Primary products include individual medical, small group, short-term and student health insurance products, as well as non-insurance products and consumer-choice products such as Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements. With almost 3,000 employees, Assurant Health is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with operations offices in Minnesota, Idaho and Florida, as well as sales offices across the country. The Assurant Health Web site is http://www.assuranthealth.com/.

Assurant Health is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and selected international markets. Its four key businesses -- Assurant Employee Benefits, Assurant Health, Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property -- have partnered with clients who are leaders in their industries and have built leadership positions in a number of specialty insurance market segments worldwide.

Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has more than $26 billion in assets and $8 billion in annual revenue. Assurant has more than 14,000 employees worldwide and is headquartered in New York's financial district. The Assurant Web site is http://www.assurant.com/.

CONTACT: Peter Duckler, [phone], [e-mail], for State Farm Insurance

Web site: http://statefarm.com/ http://statefarm.ca/ http://www.assurant.com/ http://www.assuranthealth.com/