Complaint Review: Midwest National Life & Health Insurance - Bedford Texas

To all unsuspecting job searchers:

Please heed this advice and avoid Cornerstone America like the proverbial plague. The scam that this company perpetrates on good, honest people entering the insurance profession (people who want nothing more than the opportunity to earn a decent living) makes the original Ponzi scheme appear as though it was sanctioned on the stone tablets that were carried down from the mount by Moses.

This company propogates seriously inferior insurance products, all-the-while touting them as the answer to the insurance woes of the self-employed and small business owner.

However, these insurance products fail on far too many fronts.

First off, they rarely cover even a portion of that which they claim. All of the so-called "bells-and-whistles" type riders (Emergency Expense Benefit, etc.) that can be attached to these watered-down health insurance plans do little more than increase the monthly premium. Sadly, when it's finally time for the policy-holder to put the plan to use, he finally discovers that what he thought was adequate coverage is literally next-to-nothing.

Secondly, despite the contentions of Cornerstone America, Midwest National Life, Blackstone Investment Group, UICI, UGA, MegaLife and Health, the Alliance for Affordable Services, et. al (how many names does a supposed reputable company really need?) the rates DO increase on an annual basis. I can testify firsthand, as I had health insurance through Midwest National Life until, in utter frustration, I finally cancelled the policy and purchased a much higher-quality, less-expensive plan---and from a REPUTABLE health insurance company.

Thirdly, these health insurance products ARE NOT major medical plans, regardless of what your DSL and / or Regional Sales Leader may claim. But since so few (usually less than 5%) of the insurance agents at Cornerstone America have had previous insurance experience, they lack the ability to make sound, analytical comparisons.

It's not that these people (the agents) are ignorant (in most cases, they ARE NOT), it's just that they're relative neophytes to the world of insurance. In essence, they're really very trusting--and trustworthy---people who are totally oblivious to the lies they're being spoon-fed on a daily basis. What the Cornerstone America "leaders" (i.e.; DSLs; Regional Sales Leaders) do to these people is a travesty of the worst kind. They take people who are desperate to earn a living and deceive them into selling a product that will ultimately fail both the consumer AND the agent.

The sad reality is that Cornerstone America preys on middle-aged workers who are desperate for a job--any job!

Their weekly "pep-rally" meetings entice the unsuspecting into believing this is THE health insurance company for the ages--one that is to be placed on its own special "insurance pedestal," far above the "lesser-companies" (i.e.; Unicare, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Health Care, Aetna, etc.)

There is a real danger to the agent in placing his trust in Cornerstone America, or the company's "cronies" (i.e.; DSLs, District Sales Leaders, etc.). Ultimately, you will bear the brunt of the damage that is done to the people to whom you sold these inferior health insurance products.

The law of numbers WILL eventually catch up to you. Once you've placed enough of these watered-down health insurance plans into your customers' hands, the phone calls will start. Like the sun coming up in the morning, I can guarantee it.

And with each passing week, you'll be forced to answer to irate, irritable, and hostile Cornerstone America/ Midwest National Life Insurance health insurance policy-holders.

These people will be demanding answers as to why their so-called "superior" health insurance policy doesn't cover doctor's office visits, emergency room visits, simple in-office procedures, procedural medical testing, (let alone out-patient or regular surgical procedures) and /or any of the multitude of basic medical procedures that ARE covered by other companies health insurance plans.

That knot you'll feel building in the pit of your stomach will be the result of knowing you've been scammed by Cornerstone America---and, in turn, you've foisted the worst possible health insurance products on good, honest, hard-working people. Or as Cornerstone America refers to its customers: "AV" (after all, these good, honest policy-holders are just so much cannon-fodder to the DSLs and Regional Sales Leaders who earn a hefty commission from your herculean sales efforts.)

Ahhhh...but then there's the subject of your pay. Beware, Cornerstone America agents: there isn't a DSL or a Regional Sales Leader throughout the company who will actually take the time to explain to you how you REALLY earn your commission.

You see...it's well-known throughout Cornerstone America, Midwest National Life, UICI, Blackstone Investment Group, Alliance for Affordable Services, et al (again, how many names DOES a so-called respectable company really need?) that it should NOT EVER be revealed to the agent how he /she earns commissions. For if this deep-dark secret be revealed, insurance agents would leave the company in droves. Well, the agents would leave the company EVEN QUICKER than they already do. (As an aside, the turnover rate at Cornerstone America is a staggering 80% within two years of entering the company's employ).

And, why, praytell, does Cornerstone America NOT reveal to the unsuspecting agent how he / she earns commissions? Because the simple reality is that the agent is nothing more than an indentured servant. And, of course, the company cannot EVER reveal THAT to the poor, pitiful agent.

You see, as an agent, you are paid an embarrassingly small "advance" on your hard-earned sales while the lion's share of the commission is forwarded to your DSL and Regional Sales Leader. And woe to the agent who attempts to uncover their little scheme---he will be deceived, lied to, and misled at every turn.

Raise the question about compensation methods at one of their weekly "pep rallies" (so-called office meetings) and you'll be told: "Don't worry about how you get paid; just keep writing business." That's exactly how it's phrased, word-for-deceptive-word.

And when you are finally jolted back to reality after experiencing a few months (or, God forbid, a year or so) of the shoddy and deceptive business practices at Cornerstone America, you'll do what any other self-respecting, forthright individual would do---you'll leave the company, and breathe a sigh of relief. You'll feel as though you've been paroled---you've found a new lease on life, having suffered through THE worst job-related experience of your life.

But this nightmarish experience will follow you, and burden you like the proverbial albatross around your neck. Of course, Cornerstone America / Midwest National Life, et. al. will stop at NOTHING in its relentless quest to continue to extract your flesh.

The company, not merely satisfied to have discouraged you from ever again pursuing a career in the insurance industry, will take further steps to make your life a living hell. After a period of time, the Cornerstone America extortionists will begin to make unrealistic, haughty, and outright illegal / unethical, and even borderline immoral demands that you return your "advances."

And then it will all suddenly make sense--and it will sicken you. Back at that weekly "pep-rally" meeting (the one where you raised the question of how agents are REALLY compensated), you were told: "Don't worry about how you get paid; just keep writing business."

You DO remember those "words-of-wisdom," don't you? You should; they're taken straight from the training manuals of the DSL.

And why DID the leaders at Cornerstone America purposely keep the agents in the dark on the subject of compensation? That's right...because there isn't anyone---not even THE most desperate soul---who would work at a company where ALL the "advances" and so-called "compensation" remain the sole, proprietary property of the company.

In closing, I urge...nay...I pray to the good Lord that you NOT give your time, talents, efforts and abilities to a company that is not only deceptive, but borders on the criminal.

You're too much of a quality person to end up in the sinister bowels of deception and dishonesty that IS the Cornerstone America scheme.

And may God have mercy on this pathetic company until the Attorneys General and State Directors of Insurance take the measures necessary to bring this company to justice.

Ralph

Evanston, Illinois
U.S.A.

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