Complaint Review: Freedom Life Insurance Company of America - Ft. Worth Texas

USHEALTH Group bogus healthcare policies costing lives

I met a nice woman in my networking ground named Peg Truckenbroad. She filled the health insurance category in our group and said they specialize in individual plans. My insurance rates had sky rocked in June of 2015 with United health care and so I thought I should give this a look. I have always been really healthy and Peg explained to me that this plan was non ACA compliant and would not cover preventive services. This was not a big deal to me since I had only been to the doctor once a year for many years for a well woman visit. I would just pay for that visit, but still come out ahead financially with the premiums which were 200 less per month that the UC plan.

The pitch was that the policy paid “the first dollar” without having to meet a deductible and even with the penalty it would be cheaper than regular insurance. They even make you go through a physical and explain the insurance is just like old private insurance pre-obama care. In my mind pre-obama care insurance was actual insurance. The pitch is very smooth in telling you what they do versus all of the things they do not do.    I guess my first clue should have been that my advisor with Cancer told me her own plan would not accept her.

 I figured out in March of 2016 that I had really had no coverage when I went to the emergency room at the hospital with partial facial paralysis. I presented my card and the admitting people had no idea what my insurance was and could not find it in their system. This would be a huge red flag. I called my agent and she said you get $250 just for going to the emergency room. The implication sounded as if the $250 were additional to anything that would be covered. Little did I know that is all they would cover.  I called the benefits number on my card after they fact and they said they pay $250 for an emergency room visit and nothing more.

I called the hospital and begged them not to bill my so called insurance and I would just self-pay cash. The hospital went ahead and billed this so called insurance plan which I ended up getting a bill for nearly $3000. Self-pay would have been a 1/3 of that. I was lucky enough to beg and have the hospital reduce the bill down some to just over $2000 since I would pay immediately.  Had I needed any further medical attention at the hospital, nothing would have been covered by my US Health advisors plan. I was told by customer services I would have the one-time option to upgrade my plan and pay a higher premium and then a $6000 or $3000 deductible depending on how big you want your premium to be.

The problem is that you cannot upgrade and then have the deductible met by any prior money spent on healthcare that year. I believe you also have to pay the upgraded premiums retroactively. They also drop you if you take the upgrade once as soon as you are eligible for an Affordable Act Care (ACA) plan

These plans should not be called insurance. They should be called a sham or a network of supposed discount services. What you will find is that you are better off with no insurance and just paying the negotiated self-pay rates that providers will extend.

This type of coverage could really hurt someone financially as the benefits received do not equal the premiums paid with no end to repeated claims that would total just under $3000.

Before someone would even begin to look at the “upgrade” option.

Once a provider bills at the insurance rates, USHEALTH Advisor customers are stuck paying those rates when they realize that they plan sold to them is a bill of goods.

I have had rectal bleeding that started in mid November. I was in need of a colonoscopy to determine the bleeding and again called in hopes I had some benefit to get this diagnostic test, but was told I should go to cheapcolonscopy.com and self pay.  Again I realized if I self-pay for that procedure and cancer is found then the treatment could bankrupt me.    I wish I understood better what I was purchasing. I am not sure how anyone could really understand since you purchase this plan that is really 3 plans under different association names.  I attempted to buy another insurance plan in march after my ER visit and found that I was stuck until 2017 due to the ACA. I had no idea that an individual could not purchase full price health insurance anytime during the year. As a bonus for all of this fun I am now also subject to the health insurance penalty.

After complaining I was sent a letter to make me feel negligent and responsible for my not realizing the inadequacy of this product as insurance. The advisor who sold me the policy said to make sure I answer yes to all of the questions when the person called or I would have to start the entire process over. No human could possibly understand the structure of this program with 3 different associations and ridiculous policies that basically cover nothing. Texas should not allow this company to sell this product and use the word insurance in their advertising. It is certainly not health insurance. I just got my colonoscopy and I do have cancer. It would have been nice to start treatment 2 months ago. I would be very interested to learn if the heads of this company buy their own insurance. Many of their former sales people say the company heads have different insurance.