 Independence Holding Company IHC announced today that it intends to commence a tender offer by the end of this month to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price per share of 27.00. The number of shares currently proposed to be purchased in the tender offer represents approximately 6.8 of IHCs currently outstanding shares of common stock and involves an aggregate purchase price of up to 27 million. The Board of Directors of IHC has determined to commence the tender offer in order to provide liquidity to its stockholders by permitting them the opportunity to tender shares of IHC common stock for cash in accordance with the terms of the offer to purchase that will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 