Exhibit 99.1

For Release           Immediate


Contacts       (News Media) Mark Lubbers, EVP, Corporate Affairs 317.817.4418
               (News Media) Brenda Adrian, Sitrick and Company Inc. 212.573.6100
               (Investors) Tammy Hill, SVP, Investor Relations 317.817.2893


          CONSECO, INC. RECEIVES COURT APPROVAL OF DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
 Court Ruling Gives Company Go Ahead to Solicit Votes on Plan of Reorganization;
                    Confirmation Hearing Set for May 28, 2003

Indianapolis, Ind., March 18, 2003-- Conseco, Inc. (OTCBB:CNCEQ) reported today
that it received Bankruptcy Court approval of its Disclosure Statement for its
Plan of Reorganization.

The approval of the Disclosure Statement allows Conseco to commence soliciting
votes for confirmation of its Plan of Reorganization. The Disclosure Statement
and ballots to vote on the plan are expected to be mailed shortly. The voting
record date is March 19, 2003 and the deadline for returning the completed
ballots is May 14, 2003. The hearing to consider confirmation of the Plan is
scheduled to begin on May 28, 2003.

"We are very pleased that the Court has approved the adequacy of our Disclosure
Statement," said William J. Shea, president and chief executive officer. "With
the continued support of our banks and bondholders and the Official Committee of
Unsecured Creditors, we continue to make considerable progress in our efforts to
reorganize our capital structure and our businesses." Upon emergence from
Chapter 11, Conseco, Inc. will be engaged exclusively in the insurance business.

The full texts of the Second Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization and Second
Amended Disclosure Statement are available at http://www.bmccorp.net/conseco and
will soon be available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The Disclosure
Statement and Plan do not govern the Chapter 11 petitions filed by Conseco
Finance Corp. or its subsidiaries.

     Note on forward-looking statements: Some of the statements contained in
this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include those
that use words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect,"
"project," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "contemplate," "possible,"
"attempts," "seeks," "should," "could," "goal," and other similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to
be materially different from the future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Assumptions and other
important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from
those anticipated in our forward-looking statements include, among other things:
(i) the ability of Conseco to develop, prosecute, confirm and consummate one or
more plans of reorganization with respect to the Chapter 11 petitions; (ii) the
potential adverse impact of the Chapter 11 petitions on Conseco's operations,
management and employees; (iii) the outcome and timing of Conseco's efforts to
restructure and/or sell assets of Conseco Finance; (iv) general economic
conditions and other factors, including prevailing interest rate levels, stock
and credit market performance and health care inflation, which may affect (among
other things) Conseco's ability to sell its products, its ability to make loans
and access capital resources and the costs associated therewith, the market
value of Conseco's investments, the lapse rate and profitability of policies,
and the level of defaults and prepayments of loans made by Conseco; (v)
Conseco's ability to achieve anticipated synergies and levels of operational
efficiencies, including from our process excellence initiatives, and to achieve
the goals of recent restructuring initiatives undertaken at Conseco Insurance
Group; (vi) customer response to new products, distribution channels, marketing
initiatives and the Chapter 11 petitions; (vii) mortality, morbidity, usage of
health care services and other factors which may affect the profitability of
Conseco's insurance products; (viii) performance of our investments; (ix)
changes in the Federal income tax laws and regulations which may affect the
relative tax advantages of some of Conseco's products; (x) increasing
competition in the sale of insurance and annuities and in the finance business;
(xi) regulatory changes or actions, including those relating to regulation of
the financial affairs of our insurance companies, regulation of financial
services affecting (among other things) bank sales and underwriting of insurance
products, regulation of the sale, underwriting and pricing of products, and
health care regulation affecting health insurance products; (xii) actions by
rating agencies and the effects of past or future actions by these agencies on
Conseco's business, including the impact of recent rating downgrades; (xiii) the
ultimate outcome of lawsuits filed against Conseco; and (xiv) the risk factors
or uncertainties listed from time to time in Conseco's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
connection with the Company's Chapter 11 petitions. Other factors and
assumptions not identified above are also relevant to the forward-looking
statements, and if they prove incorrect, could also cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected.

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