Long Term Care Lawyer Says Conseco Insurance Puts Seniors At Financial Risk
Conseco, an Indiana based insurance company, without notice to policyholders has decided to move 144,000 Long-Term Care policies into a Trust that could financial ruin senior citizens, according to Frank N. Darras, who claims to be the nation’s leading disability and Long-Term Care insurance lawyer.
Attorney Darras has urged 144,000 holders of these Long-Term Care insurance policies to protest immediately the creation of this Trust.
“If you bought Long-Term Care policies from American Travelers Life or Transport Life in the late 1980’s to the mid 1990’s and your policy is now being administered by Conseco Senior Health Insurance Company, you may get cheated out of years of investment and the benefits for which you so richly paid,” according to a statement on the Website.
“Without any notice or warning to these faithful, premium paying seniors, Conseco has proposed creating a new Senior Health Insurance Trust to uncouple a hemorrhaging block of business it purchased from American Travelers and Transport Life in the mid-1990’s,” says Darras.
“The end of the comment period to the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance is September 30, 2008.”
According to Darras, Conseco has a history of treating its Long-Term Care policyholders badly. Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department found Conseco had violated insurance claims handling practices and fined the company $32.3 Million. Acting Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario, defined the bulk of the fine as “restitution to consumers who were harmed”.
Now, however, the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance appears to be working with Conseco to approve this Trust, according to Darras.
The timeline started in an August 11 Conseco conference call and the deadline for commentary is September 30th. “What’s the rush?” asks Darras.
“Conseco wanted to be the industry leader in Long-Term Care. Now it’s time for the company to honor what it sold. It looks as if the company is attempting to spin off an eleventh hour Trust, without notifying the very policyholders that will be affected and that is wrong,” he says.
Conseco policyholders and all LTC policyholders are urged to write or fax the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to weigh in on this very important Trust, according to Darras.
Darras, an attorney, is managing partner of Shernoff, Bidart, Darras, Echeverria, LLP, in Ontario, California. He has been recognized by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America”, as one of the “500 Leading Litigators in America” and most recently as one of the top “500 Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in America.