Ark. Department Attempting to Collect Claims from Ind. Company

Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Mike Pickens said this week the Insurance Department is still working to collect claims from the TRG Marketing LLC case, involving the Indianapolis, Indiana-based company which was ordered to cease operations in the State of
Arkansas. In order to facilitate that process, the Insurance Department requested in a letter sent earlier this week, information regarding unpaid claims from TRG enrollees.

“We are working with the marketing companies that were involved in enrolling consumers in the TRG health plan,” Pickens said. “We hope to
reach an amicable resolution with these companies in the very near future.”

Members of Team National Inc., purchased TRG product through its Team National Inc. affiliated insurance agency National Health Plan Plus Inc. until the plan was shut down in 2002. Up until that time TRG Marketing had reportedly operated as an unauthorized multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) plan. It reportedly falsely claimed both to offer a single employer plan pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and to be exempt from State regulation.

The Department of Labor last fall filed a lawsuit against TRG Marketing, LLC alleging the defendants William Paul Crouse and Carmelo Zanfei diverted money targeted to pay health claims for their own personal use, including European family vacations and corporate distribution to themselves and to their spouses. The suit also alleges the company failed to prudently manage its health plan, which resulted in $17.5 million in unpaid claims nationwide.

Currently the Arkansas Insurance Department has identified approximately $300,000 in unpaid claims affecting nearly 50 Arkansans who were enrolled in the TRG Health Plan.

“Although we are not in a position to guarantee those former TRG enrollees that their unpaid claims will be paid, we do promise to aggressively seek to engage all means available to us to do so within the confines of the law,” Pickens explained.

Former TRG enrollees are asked to contact Associate Counsel Sara Farris at the Insurance Department with questions on how to present information concerning claims unpaid by TRG. Farris can be reached at 1-800-282-9134 or 501-371-2820.