The Arkansas Insurance Department has issued a cease and desist order to an insurance company in Florida for allegedly using "fraudulent and dishonest practices when selling short-term health care plans to Arkansans.”
The cease and desist order requires the insurance company to halt the sale and marketing of its health plans and medical insurance through unlicensed agents. The order also requires the company to stop misrepresenting the terms of an insurance contract or application for insurance.
Officials said that Health Plan Intermediaries Holdings LLC claimed that the plans it sold were compliant with the ACA and would even help customers avoid tax penalties.
According to a report from Arkansas Matters, investigators with the AID spoke with an employee of Health Plan Intermediaries who offered insurance plans and price quotes for health care products despite admitting that he was not a licensed agent. Other employees gave the investigators “misleading statements” regarding two of the company’s short-term health plans.
“The Arkansas Insurance Department takes very seriously its charge to protect Arkansas consumers from fraud. We will not allow unlicensed individuals to prey upon our neighbors with non-compliant health insurance plans under the promise of avoiding a tax penalty," said Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr.
"This is the first step in our investigation into the practices of Health Insurance Innovations in Arkansas. I strongly encourage anyone who has received a sales call from HII, or has purchased one of these plans, to contact the Insurance Department,” Kerr additionally urged.
