DO YOU REALLY HAVE ADEQUATE HEALTH INSURANCE? IF YOU PURCHASED HEALTH INSURANCE OVER THE TELEPHONE……. MOST LIKELY YOU DO NOT
We’ve had the very great privilege of representing individuals and their families in a wide variety of health insurance disputes since I began practicing law in 1982.
Our firm, Liggio & Cornell, prosecutes a wide variety of health insurance and managed care disputes, including, but certainly not limited to:
Wrongful cancellations;
Refusing to pre-authorize care;
Denying medications or surgeries on the alleged basis that they are experimental;
Altering the measure of care recommended by the treating doctor(s);
Refusing to authorize specialized care at a specific location, or by a specific specialist;
Paying far less than the provider charges leaving the insured with overwhelming expenses; and,
In the event of an “appeal” utilizing “independent” reviewers, who are biased and intended to do nothing more than parrot the health insurer or HMO’S denial.
Lately, we’ve been representing victims of health insurance “bait and switch” scams.
It goes something like this:
The consumer searches on the internet, for “affordable health insurance” or “Obamacare”, or “family health insurance”, and then the consumer calls the toll-free number for one of the top search hits.
Or the consumer receives a cold call from a marketer, asking her to press 1, or providing a toll-free number to call.
In our latest case, when the number was dialed, the consumer was greeted with a message:
“Hello, thank you for calling Healthcare Enrollment Center. The simple way to find affordable health care options. Our highly trained licensed agents are here to help you find the best coverage for you or your family. To ensure the highest level of customer care this call may be recorded. To obtain a quote over the phone or to speak with an agent, please press 1. To make a payment or update your billing information on your current policy, please press 2. To speak to an agent regarding an existing policy or other customer service-related questions, please press 3. For all other inquiries please stay on the line and an operator will assist momentarily.”
When the consumer then speaks with the “highly trained licensed agent” she actually is speaking with an individual sitting at a computer terminal reading a script, which includes answers to her anticipated questions, all for the purpose of getting the consumer to provide credit card information to purchase virtually worthless insurance.
Now, every insurance company, and every insurance agent, and every insurance administrator, here in Florida must register to conduct insurance business with the Florida Regulators. Every insurance policy sold in Florida must be filed, either for approval, or for informational purposes with the Florida Regulators.
Our latest case involves unlicensed entities and individuals, who, along with several licensed agencies and agents, sold what appears to be sham health insurance. The parties are located in Florida, Georgia and Texas include: Salvasen Health, the National Association of Preferred Providers, Blackhawk Claims, the National Individual Insurance Agency
The Complaint, which lays out the details, and who we think was involved, is posted on our website, here:
Our investigation has revealed that one of the unlicensed entities, Salvasen Health, was investigated already by regulators in:
We do not imagine that Salvasen was just selling this “health insurance” in those states, and of course, the Salvasen “health insurance” was sold to our clients here in Florida.
Stay tuned…….