MEGA Story Left Out of SiCKO
Another family that was scammed by MEGA because of an agent leaving out some important details of their policy, like “it’s actually not really going to cover anything”, almost had their story told in the movie SiCKO. However, the story was cut from the movie.
When they were cut from the film, Hesper Main said that the production assistant they had been dealing with felt so bad that she offered to push their story to a companion piece running in “People” magazine.
The family’s story made it into the July 23 issue, with Harry Potter on the cover.
Tom Main was a self-employed electrician making about $40,000 per year that moved from Colorado to Florida.
He joined the National Association for the Self-Employed, making him eligible for health coverage. In December 2005, an agent from MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company sold them a family policy at $227 a month.
Then his son, Kenny, got sick.
When Tom Main handed over his insurance papers to the administration office he was prepared for the $5,000 deductible, but surprised when he was told the policy would not be adequate.
Kenny responded well to treatment. But Tom Main said as the bills started piling up, MEGA began denying the claims, paying “a little bit here and a little bit there.”
With $500,000 in medical bills and an insurance company that has paid out just $45,000 since their son was diagnosed 18 months ago, the Mains may face bankruptcy.
Read the whole story here.
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You know, I read the story. It is easy to think that the insurance company reps are total satanic asp-holes with hearts made of lead. But you know, they really are doing their jobs! The contract was signed, it has all those weaselly clauses in it, the policyholder never objected… these really are the rules of business. The problem isn’t with the industry reps who are doing their jobs, the problem is with the jobs themselves. Mike Moore is right - healthcare just shouldn’t be a business, anymore than policing should be a business. It’s a service, and should be organized as one.
I started out in the health insurance business with MEGA. I was a really crappy salesperson. I watched how all the successful agents sold policies, and that was by not mentioning what all wasn’t covered. They just made it sound like a simple plan with a copay, deductible, and 80/20 coinsurance. That’s the only way somebody would spend so much money on a policy that doesn’t cover anything…… if the agent lied to them.
I wanted to make sure I understood what I was selling, and once I understood what I was selling, I had to quit and become an independent broker.
If the agent did his job and explained to these people what they were buying, there is no possible way they would have bought it.
nice catch. Mega are scum and are owned by three of the richest investment banks in the world, I’m gong to make it my little mission to call them out…
I’m gong to make it my little mission to call them out…
That’s good. What do you plan on doing? The problem is that they’ve been called out pretty exhaustively already. It doesn’t seem like they care. They prey on those who don’t do any research and just believe what they hear from the agent.
We need to get this issue in front of lawmakers so they can close up some of the loopholes that UICI/cornerstone/healthmarkets are using to legally scam health insurance customers. It would also be nice if we could get them to keep a closer eye on how they do business. So far, Colorado has been a lot harder on these guys than any other state I’ve seen. In 2003, they fined MEGA and Mid-West $75,000 each for market misconduct, (misleading sales and marketing materials).
Let me know if I can help with what you have planned.
Jay,
I’m writing about Mega as well. Would it be possible for you to get in touch with me.
Thanks.
Brian Klepper
904.343.2921
You can see Matt’s very well written article about MEGA, Alliance for Affordable Services, and the company that owns them (HealthMarkets) HERE.
Sep 19th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
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