Kelsey-Seybold Clinic and Texas HealthSpring Expand Access to Healthcare for Houston-Area Senior Citizens

HOUSTON, TX (April 11, 2006) – Texas HealthSpring, Inc., a Medicare Advantage Plan, together with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Houston’s largest community-based physician group, is pleased to announce the signing of an agreement that will provide Texas HealthSpring members with access to more than 300 physicians in 20 locations.

Effective April 1, Texas HealthSpring members can select Kelsey-Seybold Clinic as their provider. All eighteen of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic’s locations in Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Montgomery Counties are now part of the Texas HealthSpring physician network, and offer patients convenient access to more than 40 specialties, as well as state-of-the-art diagnostic services and an Ambulatory Surgery Center.

Texas HealthSpring, a Medicare Advantage Plan serving Southeast Texas and Angelina, Jasper, Nacogdoches, Tyler, Cameron and Hidalgo Counties, is excited about this announcement and the ability to offer Kelsey-Seybold Clinic as an option to its Medicare Advantage Plan members.

“The addition of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic to our already impressive physician network provides the Medicare beneficiary with tremendous choice when choosing healthcare services in the Greater Houston Area,” says Scott Huebner, President and CEO of Texas HealthSpring. “I encourage all Medicare beneficiaries to take a second look at the value of Medicare Advantage Plans.”

“Since 1949, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic has been committed to improving the quality and value of healthcare delivered in our communities,” notes Spencer R. Berthelsen, M.D., Board Chairman of Kelsey-Seybold Medical Group and a practicing Internal Medicine physician. “We are pleased to begin this new partnership, which will give Texas HealthSpring members greater freedom of choice when choosing a physician, and convenient access to Kelsey-Seybold’s unique brand of medical care.”

About Texas HealthSpring
Texas HealthSpring is the largest Medicare Advantage Plan in the Houston area with over 30,000 members and has been serving plan members locally since 2002, and offers benefits to eligible Medicare beneficiaries in 20 Texas counties. To be eligible, a person must be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B, live in the service area and not currently have End Stage Renal Disease.

About Kelsey-Seybold Clinic
Kelsey-Seybold Clinic is Houston's largest community-based physician group, founded in 1949 by Dr. Mavis Kelsey in Houston's famous Texas Medical Center. Kelsey-Seybold offers the services of more than 300 physicians with proficiency in more than 40 medical specialties. The Clinic's 18 Houston-area locations offer convenience to patients close to home and work. Kelsey-Seybold has proudly served the National Aeronautics and Space Administration since 1966. The Kelsey Research Foundation works to improve community health through information, education, and research studies. Kelsey-Seybold Clinic is part of the St. Luke's Episcopal Health System.

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