Exhibit 99.1

NEWS

For Release     Immediate

Contacts        (News Media) Tony Zehnder, Corporate Communications 312.396.7086
                (Investors) Scott Galovic, Investor Relations 317.817.3228


                     Conseco adopts stockholder rights plan

Carmel, IN, January 20, 2009 - Conseco, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) today announced its
Board of Directors has adopted a stockholder rights plan designed to protect
stockholder value by preserving the value of certain tax assets primarily
associated with tax net operating loss carryforwards under Section 382 of the
Internal Revenue Code. Section 382 would limit the value of those tax assets
upon an "ownership change." The rights plan was adopted to reduce the likelihood
of this occurring by deterring the acquisition of stock that would create
"5-percent shareholders" as defined in Section 382.

Under the rights plan, one right will be distributed for each share of common
stock of Conseco outstanding as of the close of business on January 30, 2009.
Effective January 20, 2009 if any person or group (subject to certain
exemptions) becomes a "5-percent shareholder" of Conseco without the approval of
the Board of Directors, there would be a triggering event causing significant
dilution in the voting power and economic ownership of that person or group.
Existing stockholders who currently are "5-percent shareholders" will trigger a
dilutive event only if they acquire additional shares that would increase their
percentage ownership of Conseco by more than 1 percent without prior approval
from the Board.

"The stockholder rights plan protects the interests of all stockholders from the
possibility of losing substantial value through further limitations on the
company's ability to utilize its net operating loss carryforwards under Section
382," said Conseco CEO Jim Prieur. "The rights plan, similar to those adopted by
other publicly-held companies, is not intended for defensive or anti-takeover
purposes, but to preserve stockholder value, and is in the best interests of
Conseco's stockholders."

The rights plan will continue in effect until January 20, 2012, unless earlier
terminated or redeemed by the Board of Directors. Conseco's Audit Committee will
review the company's NOL assets annually and will recommend amending or
terminating the rights plan based on its review. Additionally, the Board has
resolved to submit the continuation of the rights plan to a vote at the next
annual meeting of the stockholders in May 2009. If stockholders do not approve
the plan, it will be terminated. In this regard, the rights plan was drafted to
conform to previous plans approved by RiskMetrics Group (formerly Institutional
Shareholder Services).

A complete copy of the rights plan, including additional information regarding
terms and conditions, will be included in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be
filed by Conseco with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition,
Conseco stockholders of record will be mailed a detailed summary of the rights
plan.

Conseco, Inc.'s insurance companies help protect working American families and
seniors from financial adversity: Medicare supplement, long-term care, cancer,
heart/stroke and accident policies protect people against major unplanned
expenses; annuities and life insurance products help people plan for their
financial futures. For more information, visit Conseco's web site at
http://www.conseco.com/ .










Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. Our statements, trend
analyses and other information contained in these materials relative to markets
for Conseco's products and trends in Conseco's operations or financial results,
as well as other statements, contain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the federal securities laws and the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by the
use of terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect,"
"project," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "contemplate," "possible,"
"attempt," "seek," "should," "could," "goal," "target," "on track," "comfortable
with," "optimistic" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements
are expressed differently. You should consider statements that contain these
words carefully because they describe our expectations, plans, strategies and
goals and our beliefs concerning future business conditions, our results of
operations, financial position, and our business outlook or they state other
"forward-looking" information based on currently available information.
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) general economic, market and political
conditions, including the performance and fluctuations of the financial markets
which may affect our ability to raise capital or refinance our existing
indebtedness; (ii) our ability to obtain adequate and timely rate increases on
our supplemental health products including our long-term care business; (iii)
mortality, morbidity, the increased cost and usage of health care services,
persistency, the adequacy of our previous reserve estimates and other factors
which may affect the profitability of our insurance products; (iv) changes in
our assumptions related to the cost of policies produced or the value of
policies in force at the effective date of our emergence from bankruptcy; (v)
the recoverability of our deferred tax asset and the effect of potential tax
rate changes on its value; (vi) changes in accounting principles and the
interpretation thereof; (vii) our ability to achieve anticipated expense
reductions and levels of operational efficiencies including improvements in
claims adjudication and continued automation and rationalization of operating
systems; (viii) performance and valuation of our investments, including the
impact of realized losses (including other-than-temporary impairment charges);
(ix) our ability to identify products and markets in which we can compete
effectively against competitors with greater market share, higher ratings,
greater financial resources and stronger brand recognition; (x) the ultimate
outcome of lawsuits filed against us and other legal and regulatory proceedings
to which we are subject; (xi) our ability to remediate the material weakness in
internal controls over the actuarial reporting process that we identified at
year-end 2006 and to maintain effective controls over financial reporting; (xii)
our ability to continue to recruit and retain productive agents and distribution
partners and customer response to new products, distribution channels and
marketing initiatives; (xiii) our ability to achieve eventual upgrades of the
financial strength ratings of Conseco and our insurance company subsidiaries as
well as the potential impact of rating downgrades on our business; (xiv) the
risk factors or uncertainties listed from time to time in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission; (xv) our ability to continue to satisfy the
financial ratio and balance requirements and other covenants of our debt
agreements; (xvi) regulatory changes or actions, including those relating to
regulation of the financial affairs of our insurance companies, such as the
payment of dividends to us, 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; and (xvii) changes in the Federal income
tax laws and regulations which may affect or eliminate the relative tax
advantages of some of our products. 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. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us are
expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statement. Our
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We assume no
obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any
of the forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, future events or
developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the
forward-looking statements.


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