Ameriplan Settles Fraud Allegations for $200,000

November 22, 2006

  • October 29, 2007 at 9:26 am
    Julie says:
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    At the time that AmeriPlan was marketing it’s health plans in Montana, it was under contract with a large health care provider company. All of the providers that AmeriPlan listed on it’s website were actually under contract with the original health care provider company. That provider company supplied the list of it’s physician providers to AmeriPlan. Since AmeriPlan had a contract with this ;large, supposedly reputable company, they trusted that the list was accurate. This, it turned out, was a mistake on AmeriPlan’s part. The list was outdated and inaccurate, leading to the allegations by the State of Montana and the eventual settlement agreement.

    Was AmeriPlan foolish to “assume” that the company’s list was current? Absolutely. Were they intentionally deceiving the public, absolute not!

  • March 14, 2008 at 4:56 am
    Eve Arnold says:
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    I was an Ameriplan customer a couple of years ago. I’m a California resident and have been for the past 11 years. As a part-time employee I was unable to have health coverage through my employer, therefore, I looked for an alternative. I found Ameriplan and signed up for their “Discount card”. When it came time to use the card for my money’s worth, non of the “listed” providers with Ameriplan even knew they were listed as an Ameriplan provider. To make sure it wasn’t a one time fluke, I started calling different types of providers: (dental, chiropractors, vision, health), not ONE validated Ameriplan’s discount card and not ONE even knew they were being listed as an Ameriplan provider. When I gave this information to the providers they stated they were going to contact Ameriplan and file a legal complaint. Now, I’m not a Montana resident, but I got scammed the same way. I paid monthly fees that were never reimbursed AND was never able to receive a single discount with their card because non of the providers validated it. In fact, they offered lower discounts as a “cash patient” themselves than what Ameriplan was claiming to save the consumer. Now if this company has been in business for so long and claim to have thousand of satisfied costumers, one of two things could account for that statistic. First, the ratio of satisfied costumers may be in direct link to the very far few and in between providers that may actually validate their discount card and that have actual knowledge that they are being listed as an Ameriplan provider. The second option is the number of satisfied costumers may be revolving NEW costumers who happen to get a ONE time discount here and there, but once they actually experience the full scale of unsupported claims, they cancel their membership (as I did) to leave room for the next “victim”.

  • March 14, 2008 at 6:49 am
    Eve says:
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    I am happy to hear that Montana has made Ameriplan accountable for its claims. However, the state of California needs to follow the same lead. Until our legislature holds Ameriplan accountable, they are going to pave the way for other “discount” health plans who claim to bring discounts to the “uninsurable” like AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE OPTIONS; who targets pregnant women. Unlike Ameriplan, AHCO targets the thousands of women ,who like myself, are PREGNANT, self-employed or on disability but with “too much” income to qualify for Medicare or Medical. At the same time, are “unisurable” by the private insurance companies like Blue Cross/Shield, Pacificare, Aetna..etc.. because “pregnancy” is considered a “PRE-EXISTING CONDITON”.. Yes it’s true!! I couldn’t believe it when I was turned down by ALL the insurance companies known to man because my pregnancy was considered “a pre-existing DISEASE!!”. Both Ameriplan and AHCO are wise to advertise that they ARE NOT AN INSURANCE COMPANY, because that means they can operate outside of the Insurance Laws’ umbrella. WHO IS SET UP TO HOLD THESE COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR FRAUDULENT CLAIMS??? AHCO follows the same business plan as Ameriplan, except you have to be a pregnant woman. They too offer a discount card that claims to have thousands of providers in their list. However, before I fell prey to the same gimmick, I drilled the so called “agent” that contacted me via e-mail, (obviously a work from home agent) about all the policies and discounts that they offered and what the cancellation procedures were and so on and so forth. He was so eager to get me off the phone that he ASSURED me there was NO RISK involved, that there was a legitimate cancellation procedure in place in the event that they were not able to help me save at least 60% of my pre/post natal costs. I made him confirm that the hospital I was to give birth in was one of their providers…it wasn’t true. I didn’t find out that the hospital did not honor, nor were they aware that they were a provider until I went in for my fist ultrasound. Again, the hospital and my OBGYN offered me a lot more of a discount as a “cash” patient than AHCO claimed to be able to save me. When I tried to cancel, they made me jump through hoops and I’m still waiting (going on 8 months)to get reimbursed for the last few months of premiums they were not supposed to charge me because they failed to come through with their claim. Both Ameriplan and AHCO function under the same premise: The need to lower health care costs by thousands of people like myself who fall under a grey area and fall through the cracks of the health care system.

  • March 30, 2008 at 9:47 am
    Steve says:
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    AMERIPLAN DOES COVER PREGNANCY, I KNOW PEOPLE THAT IT HAS HELPED WHO HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO AFFORD INSURANCE. AMERIPLAN HAS SAVED THEM BY OFFERING DISCOUNT BENEFITS. WHERE NO OTHER INSURANCE WOULD HELP THE EXPECTING MOTHERS. THE PLANS AMERIPLAN OFFERS ARE CALLED CONSUMER DRIVEN HEALTHCARE. PEOPLE THAT DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW CONSUMER DRIVEN HEALTHCARE WORKS SHOULD EDUCATE THEMSELVES. SHOULD PEOPLE WHO CAN NOT AFFORD INSURANCE OR ARE DENIED HAVE TO GO TO ANOTHER COUNTRY FOR HEALTH CARE. I APPLAUD AMERIPLAN FOR THERE EFFORTS THAT EVERY POLITICIAN HAS PLEDGED YEAR AFTER YEAR TO SOLVE THE CRISIS. AMERIPLAN PROVIDES A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE AT A PRICE PEOPLE CAN AFFORD AND ALSO PROVIDES ADVOCATES TO ASSIST WITH HOSPITALIZATION. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE WON;T WORK HERE IN THE USA BUT CONSUMER DRIVEN HEALTHCARE PROVIDES A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE. THANK YOU AMERIPLAN.

  • March 31, 2008 at 8:24 am
    Eve says:
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    Hi Steve, how long have you been an Ameriplan representative??

    In case there was any confusion, the comments posted about the pregnancy issues, were not regarding AMERIPLAN. They were about a different Discount program called AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE OPTIONS geared only towards pregnancy but operating under the same practices as AMERIPLAN.

  • September 4, 2008 at 1:54 am
    Joelle Niedecken says:
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    Ameriplan DOES NOT make deceptive claims about it’s benefits. I have Ameriplan’s dental, vision, chiro., prescrip. and medical. I’ve personally saved between 30-40% at the chiropractor for my teenage son, different amts. on prescrips., and 50-80% on labwork for my son, more than once. He missed 2 six weeks of school last year, and we had to have different labs done. We consistently saved that amt. each time for his labs.

    And, it is true, that sometimes savings someone can get with a Dr. offering discounts for cash pay patients may be greater than our savings with Ameriplan. I’ve experienced that as well. I even went to purchase glasses for my 2 sons just the other day at Sears. Sears DOES accept Ameriplan. They told me so. It just so happened though, that Sears’ discount for ‘get back to school’ or whatever was cheaper than Ameriplan. That’s ok, though. It’s been great savings when I’ve needed it!!

    Sorry for the bad experiences you had Eve.

  • September 4, 2008 at 2:20 am
    Joelle Niedecken says:
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    Sorry again for your very bad experiences Eve. I do know, though, that Ameriplan has discounts for pregnancies, as long as you’re a member before your last trimester. Also, you can go to ANY hospital with Ameriplan, and as long as your bill is $2500.00 or more, Ameriplan has a patient advocacy group, called the Karis Group, that negotiates with the hospitals, to get the bills lowered significantly. It’s all verifiable.

  • January 28, 2010 at 4:26 am
    Cherry says:
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    Save up to 80% with AmeriPlan® on Health, Dental, Vision, Prescription and Chiropractic Care. Learn all about AmeriPlan® here.
    http://www.robcuppett.com/



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