UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Before the

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 

Release No. 98936 / November 14, 2023

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING

File No. 3-20932

In the Matter of

Health Insurance Innovations, Inc., 

now named Benefytt Technologies, 

Inc., and Gavin D. Southwell,

Respondents.

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ORDER APPROVING 

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

On July 20, 2022, the Commission issued an Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist 

Proceedings, Pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21C of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings, and Imposing a Cease-and-Desist Order (the 

“Order”)1against Health Insurance Innovations, Inc., now named Benefytt Technologies, Inc., 

(“HII”) and Gavin D. Southwell (“Southwell”) (collectively, the “Respondents”). In the Order, 

the Commission found that from March 2017 through March 2020, HII, a technology platform, 

billing administrator and distributor of short-term and limited health insurance products, and its 

CEO Southwell made a series of false and misleading statements to investors, which concealed 

extensive consumer complaints about products being sold through misrepresentations. 

Respondents falsely told investors that HII held its insurance distributors to its high compliance 

standards, which prohibited insurance agents from making misrepresentations to consumers. 

Respondents falsely stated that HII had 99.99% consumer satisfaction and misleadingly stated 

that state departments of insurance received very few consumer complaints regarding HII. 

Respondents understated the amount of business that had been generated by its most productive 

distributor, Simple Health Plans LLC, which amassed the most consumer complaints. 

Respondents misrepresented that HII had terminated its relationship with a different distributor 

in 2016 for compliance failures, when in fact, HII re-hired this distributor despite continuing 

compliance problems. These statements were made in reports filed with the SEC, press releases, 

earnings calls and other communications with investors. Southwell also disseminated misleading 

information about HII’s compliance to research analysts and a subscription news service, which 

included the information in research reports and a news article that were distributed to investors. 

In total, the Commission ordered the Respondents to pay $320,000.00 in disgorgement, 

$41,511.00 in prejudgment interest, and $11,750,000.00 in civil money penalties, for a collective 

total of $12,111,511.00, to the Commission. The Commission also created a Fair Fund, pursuant 

1

 Securities Act Rel. No. 11084 (July 20, 2022).
2

to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, so the penalties paid, along with the 

disgorgement and interest paid, can be distributed to harmed investors (the “Fair Fund”).

The Fair Fund includes the $12,111,511.00 paid by the Respondents. The assets of the 

Fair Fund are subject to the continuing jurisdiction and control of the Commission. The Fair 

Fund has been deposited in a Commission-designated account at the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury, and any accrued interest will be added to the Fair Fund.

On September 25, 2023, the Division of Enforcement, pursuant to delegated authority, 

published a Notice of Proposed Plan of Distribution and Opportunity for Comment (“Notice”),2

pursuant to Rule 1103 of the Commission’s Rules on Fair Fund and Disgorgement Plans 

(“Commission’s Rules”);3and simultaneously posted the Proposed Plan of Distribution (the 

“Proposed Plan”). The Notice advised interested persons that they could obtain a copy of the 

Proposed Plan from the Commission’s public website or by submitting a written request to 

Sondra Panahi, United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 801 Brickell Ave, Suite 

1950, Miami, FL 33131. The Notice also advised that all persons desiring to comment on the 

Proposed Plan could submit their comments, in writing, within 30 days of the Notice. The 

Commission received no comments on the Proposed Plan during the comment period. 

 

The Proposed Plan provides for the distribution of the Net Available Fair Fund4as 

calculated by the methodology used in the Plan of Allocation to investors based on their losses 

on shares of Health Insurance Innovations, Inc. common stock registered with the Commission 

and traded under the symbol HIIQ purchased or acquired during the period when the stock price 

was inflated by the company’s false and misleading statements, from March 2, 2017 through 

March 12, 2019, inclusive. 

The Division of Enforcement now requests that the Commission approve the Proposed 

Plan. 

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED, pursuant to Rule 1104 of the Commission’s Rules,5

that the Proposed Plan is approved, and the approved Plan of Distribution shall be posted 

simultaneously with this order on the Commission’s website at www.sec.gov.

For the Commission, by the Division of Enforcement, pursuant to delegated authority.6

Vanessa A. Countryman

Secretary 

2

 Exchange Act Rel. No. 98493 (Sept. 25, 2023).

3

 17 C.F.R. § 201.1103.

4

 All capitalized terms used herein but not defined shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Proposed 

Plan.

5

 17 C.F.R. § 201.1104. 

6

 17 C.F.R. § 200.30-4(a)(21)(iv).