A federal judge on Friday temporarily shut down a Florida-based insurer for collecting more than $100 million selling essentially worthless health plans that were marketed as “TrumpCare.”
The Federal Trade Commission said on Friday it had filed the complaint against Simple Health Plans LLC for misleading consumers into getting what they thought was comprehensive insurance but really turned out to be worthless.
“Many consumers were misled into thinking they had purchased comprehensive health insurance, but when they needed to rely on that insurance, they learned they had none of the promised benefits,” said Andrew Smith, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement.
One of the websites that peddled these plans went by the moniker “trumpcarequotes” and had a logo resembling President Trump’s 2016 campaign logo. The logo also said “Make Healthcare Great Again,” a riff on the president’s slogan of “Make America Great Again.”
The company also used another site, simplemedicareplans.com, that promoted “Medicare” health plans.
The insurer allegedly claimed that consumers were getting a comprehensive plan that covered pre-existing conditions, prescription drugs, doctor visits and surgical procedures, FTC said.
Telemarketers employed by Simple Health Plans led consumers to believe they would get a comprehensive plan after paying a one-time enrollment fee of up to $175 and then a monthly fee of between $40 and $500.
But, in actuality, they got a medical discount program or a very limited benefits program.
“A typical plan provides no coverage for preexisting medical conditions or prescription medications, pays only $50 toward physician visits — capped at three visits per year — and covers a maximum of $100 per day for hospitalization,” the FTC said. “The maximum benefit a consumer could realize from the plan is $3200 per person, per year, and only if that person were hospitalized for 30 days.”
The FTC said that tens of thousands of consumers were lured into buying such plans.
Simple Health Plans did not immediately return a request for comment.
