Health insurer based in North Richland Hills facing many customer complaints Fort Worth Star Telegram
' ' & -->The final indignity for David Self was the threat to turn him over to a collection agency. After spending more than $14,000 in premiums in less than a year and receiving just $600 in benefits with much difficulty, Self told his agent that he wanted to cancel his medical insurance policy with Mega Life and Health Insurance. "He said, 'Don't pay the premium, and they'll cancel it,'" Self said of his agent's advice. "So that's what I did." It didn't take long for Mega to come knocking for payment, saying Self should have given 30 days' notice to cancel the policy. "They wouldn't pay a bill, but they threatened to sue me and take me to the credit bureau because of one month's premium," said Self, a contractor in Dallas whose wife, Pamela Keller-Self, owns a small business. Self and his wife are among more than 150 consumers, doctors and healthcare facilities that in the past two years complained to the Texas Department of Insurance about Mega and other subsidiaries of North Richland Hills-based HealthMarkets Inc. Those companies underwrite and sell health insurance and other insurance products for the self-employed and middle-income individuals. And Texas isn't the only state where there have been complaints about HealthMarkets. In the past two years the company reached more than $37 million in settlements amid regulatory investigations in Massachusetts and more than 30 other states over complaints of fraudulent marketing, failure to pay claims and failure to cover ailments required by state laws. As was the case with most of those who complained in Texas, however, the Selfs' letter to the state didn't help them much. Although the Insurance Department listed their complaint as "justified," the Selfs got no additional funds. "It was a terrible disaster," David Self said. "Those people did everything in the world to keep from paying a claim." HealthMarkets officials declined requests to talk to the
