Two “healthcare-sharing” companies will pay the state $50,000 to settle allegations they illegally sold unlicensed insurance in Connecticut.
Aliera Companies and Trinity Healthshare, both of Atlanta, agreed on Monday to drop appeals of a cease-and-desist order issued by Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais after numerous complaints against the companies.
“We are seeing entities in the marketplace misleading consumers and trying to avoid insurance regulation,” Mais said. “It is important for consumers to be cautious when they purchase health coverage.”
Operating without a license, Aliera had been offering plans in Connecticut on behalf of Trinity Healthshare, a “healthcare-sharing ministry” marketed to religious believers as an alternative to traditional health insurance. Some purchasers thought they were buying traditional insurance and did not know the plans did not guarantee that any portion of their medical bills would be paid.
The state insurance department received 11 complaints about health-sharing ministries between January 2018 and February 2020 and the number of complaints nearly doubled after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the CT Mirror.
“We need to stay vigilant to protect consumers from shady companies and sham insurance products as bad actors proliferate in the marketplace,” said state Sen. Matthew Lesser, co-chair of the legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee.
