We all hope that when we pay our health insurance that when the time comes we will be covered. Truth is many times that’s just not the case. Even after paying high premiums for months and months on a policy, there are folks who still aren’t seeing any money when they really need it. The worst part is that most of the time the insurance associations that wrongfully treat their policy holders are made up of three or more big companies that normal, everyday folks see as large opponents, and are sometimes very intimidated to sue and take them on in court. Well, there are a lot of folks in America who are starting to bravely break that trend, and these bullying insurance companies are finally beginning to get what they deserve.
Take Larry Basich for example. This hard-working engineer had a major triple bypass surgery in early January of this year. He’d been paying his insurance bill for months to a health website called Nevada Health Link and felt secure because he was fully covered through them. Or so he thought. The group (or ‘Link’) is made up of four big companies that bring in good revenue each year – KPMG, Choice Administrators, Deloitte Consulting, and Xerox. So, why is it that as soon as Mr. Basich’s medical bills after the surgery came about (which totaled to approximately $400,000) he wasn’t even found in his insurance company’s computer system as a policy holder?
After paying all of those hard-earned dollars every month like Larry did for health insurance then turning up virtually invisible in their system when he needed coverage, anyone would be hopping mad. Too many insurance companies show what is called “Bad Faith”, which is when they start doing things like improper investigations on their policy holders or making false interpretations on the policies themselves. This is kind of what happened to Ramiro Gamboa from Texas. He and many other Latino residents had a specific contract with Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). It said that they could not use any policy-holder’s future premiums to cover any losses after Hurricane Ike hit back in 2008. The law at the time said that the member insurance companies within TWIA were the ones to be assessed to pay for the losses from the damaging storm. Well, those insurance bullies simply ignored the law, and instead jacked up the prices on the Gulf Coast residents’ monthly premiums. Many of the policy-holders were working class Latinos that, according to investigated back-and-forth company emails between TWIA officials, the association is suspected of being racist towards.
Don’t be afraid to take your discriminating, neglecting, or victimizing insurance company head on. If you feel like you are being violated, then you are probably right. Don’t worry, you don’t have to battle those bullying associations alone. The litigation lawyers at Makarem and Associates have gotten settlements and judgments for a number of clients, and you could be next on the list. Feel free to call them directly at 310.312.0296 or contact them by email at [email protected] so that you can discuss your case.
