POWER OF ATTORNEY

     Know all by these presents, that the undersigned hereby constitutes and
appoints each of Stephen E. Bablitch and Peter C. Underwood of Foley & Lardner,
signing singly, the undersigned's true and lawful attorney-in-fact to:

          (1) execute for and on behalf of the undersigned, in the undersigned's
     capacity as an officer, director and/or more than 5% shareholder of Cobalt
     Corporation (the "Company"), any and all forms, applications and other
     documents as may be necessary or advisable for the undersigned to file
     under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules thereunder (the
     "Exchange Act"), including, without limitation, Forms 3, 4 and 5 and
     Schedules 13D and 13G in accordance with Section 16(a) and Section 13(d),
     respectively of the Exchange Act (collectively, "Documents");

          (2) do and perform any and all acts for and on behalf of the
     undersigned which may be necessary or desirable to complete and execute any
     such Documents and timely file such Documents with the United States
     Securities and Exchange Commission and any stock exchange or similar
     authority; and

          (3) take any other action of any type whatsoever in connection with
     the foregoing which, in the opinion of such attorney-in-fact, may be of
     benefit to, in the best interest of, or legally required by, the
     undersigned, it being understood that the documents executed by such
     attorney-in-fact on behalf of the undersigned pursuant to this Power of
     Attorney shall be in such form and shall contain such terms and conditions
     as such attorney-in-fact may approve in his/her discretion.

     The undersigned hereby grants to each such attorney-in-fact full power and
authority to do and perform any and every act and thing whatsoever requisite,
necessary, or proper to be done in the exercise of any of the rights and powers
herein granted, as fully to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do if personally present, with full power of substitution or revocation,
hereby ratifying and confirming all that such attorney-in-fact, or such
attorney-in-fact's substitute or substitutes, shall lawfully do or cause to be
done by virtue of this power of attorney and the rights and powers herein
granted. The undersigned acknowledges that the foregoing attorneys-in-fact, in
serving in such capacity at the request of the undersigned, are not assuming,
nor is the Company assuming, any of the undersigned's responsibilities to comply
with the Exchange Act.

     This Power of Attorney shall remain in full force and effect until the
undersigned is no longer required to file Documents with respect to the
undersigned's holdings of and transactions in securities issued by the Company,
unless earlier revoked by the undersigned in a signed writing delivered to the
foregoing attorneys-in-fact.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused this Power of Attorney to be
executed as of this 11th day of May, 2002.



                                    /s/ Penny Siewert
                                    ---------------------------------------
                                    Penny Siewert