? United Family Health Care ??

We just lost our insurance. We have Medicaid for now but not all Dr.s take it. Anyway I did a search for this company and found this:

http://www.bbbsouthland.org/newslett...1&articleid=97

04-2004

A Solution To The Affordable Health Care Problem
The ads read:

NEED AFFORDABLE healthcare? $59.87/month per Family. No limitations. All pre-existing conditions OK. Call United Family! (800) 236-4415 x 1066. Is it for real?

At a glance it would seem that success in what Congress, presidents, AARP, and others have failed dismally to accomplish so far is summed up in about 16 words that precede a toll-free number inviting you to come and get it. If "too good to be true" comes to mind, that echoes the sentiment of a complainant who later described the plan as just that.

United Family Healthcare Group, located in Marina Del Rey, puts out ads, often in Penny Savers, that appeal to everyone and rule out no one. Seemingly, someone who needs, say, a kidney transplant and dialysis in the meantime, or continuing treatment or surgery for cancer, can get it all, plus whatever health care their spouse and six or eight kids need, for $59.87 a month. Who wouldn't welcome this as ideal, affordable health care?

The true story

The problem with United Family Healthcare Group's solution to the problem of affordable health care is that the solution is the problem. Indeed, there are a number of problems with their solution.

It's not insurance at all

First, although the ad itself leads readers to believe they're buying insurance, the company does not sell insurance at all. It sells a medical discount plan. Willie Ramirez, a retired truck driver from Yucca Valley, with his brother-in-law, talked to a UFHC representative who did nothing to dispel their notion that they were purchasing insurance. "My brother-in-law said you can't go through life without an insurance policy, and the rep kept saying yeah, yeah, yeah, never denying that they were talking about insurance." Ramirez says he was told "it's like a PPO or an HMO" and that there were "care providers all over."

Ramirez bought, giving the representative his credit card number, but later changed his mind and canceled the credit card. It was only when his brother-in-law received his package that they both realized he hadn't bought insurance. "On the bottom of the package it said it was not insurance."

How the ads persuade

Visitors to the company's web site will see insurance product disclaimers if they look for them. They will also see references to a "Healthcare Savings Program," ". . . a program that allows individuals to receive quality care at an affordable price, under a system that allows the healthcare provider to get immediate payment . . ."

It's unlikely that people who respond to the company's ad even check out the website, and their oral dialogue with the company's representatives doesn't reveal such disclaimers.

The people who buy from UFHC don't get anything, including full information, until they've paid. An Ohio complainant says he asked the representative more than once to send him written information. "She declined each time, saying [she would send it] after he was a member." Also believing he was buying insurance, he said later that "everything was terribly misrepresented."

How they get your money and more money up front

The amounts people are charged and the means by which they are charged can be an unpleasant surprise, also. Theresa Connor, 54, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, says her representative kept asking her how she was going to pay. She told him she would pay by check each month. She was told to write out her first check, for $108.87, and that after seven days she would receive something. She expected that when the information arrived she would sign something and send her check. "He was asking me for my check number and the numbers on my account. I thought this was so he would know what check he would be receiving. I didn't realize he was going to debit my account."

Connor says UFHC withdrew $128.82 from her account. She paid $59 for her first month's enrollment, plus a non-refundable $49 fee, and $19.95 for "coupons."

Connor has received a refund of only $59. The company's response to her complaint says that "she accepted an upsell program" that included accidental death and dismemberment insurance, emergency roadside assistance, emergency air ambulance, plus a $1,000 gift certificate to a gift website service, for an additional $19.95 a month."

Connor is not certain that she authorized the additional charge and has repeatedly asked UFHC to let her review the tape recording that was made of her conversation with their representative. Each time she has been told they would review it within seven to 10 days, and in each subsequent call they've had no record of her previous request.

Where are the providers?

Another complainant says that when he called participating doctors to make an appointment, 13 out of 19 of them were not participating.

Other companies are selling similar plans

Although we have 21 complaints against United Family Health Care in our records, this company is not the only one advertising "health care" but selling discounts. Even the Better Business Bureau has received unsolicited (and unlawfully) faxed fliers with similar offers.

The Central Indiana Bureau reports that TotalCard Benefits telemarkets a $299 medical discount card to consumers all across the country. Their complaints also include allegations of misrepresentation and unauthorized bank account debits.

Joe Kennedy's plan

Former Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, who, according to CitizensHealth's website, "worked for 12 years to reduce the cost of healthcare for the American people," launched CitizensHealth to continue his fight to provide its members, who are in Massachusetts and states nearby, with discounts of up to 40 percent on doctor visits, dental care, hospital stays, prescriptions, etc. The cost of this plan is $12 a month for an individual or $28 for a family.

Enrollees in his plan make an appointment with a provider. At the time of the appointment, the provider calls CitizensHealth to verify their eligibility. CitizensHealth then charges "a deposit for the medical services you received" to your credit card. The provider sends CitizensHealth a copy of your bill, which they "double-check . . . to make sure you have received the best available discounts," after which, if your deposit exceeds the charges, they will refund the difference.

Thus, if you check into a hospital for that kidney transplant, even the doctors' fees alone and at a full 40 percent discount could leave you owing a whopping amount.

We found only the one mention of hospital coverage on the website, but we did find mention of 40 percent discounts on "your doctor visits, and out patient care." We also found, among the sample discounts they provided, not one that amounted to even 40 percent except in the category of vision care lenses and frames. No discount samples were given for hospitalization.

California law and medical discount plans

The Better Business Bureau believes that medical discount plans such as these--at least those operating in California--are discount buying service organizations subject to California law relating to them. As such, their contracts are subject to a buyer's cooling off period within three business days of the buyer's receiving a copy of the contract. If the company does not provide a copy of the contract, or if the contract does not include notification of the buyer's right to rescind, that cooling-off period does not begin to run until the seller has complied with the disclosure requirement. If the buyer rescinds the contract, all monies must be returned, regardless of whether any have been designated "nonrefundable."

These companies are also required to maintain a $20,000 bond and to provide written disclosures, including that of the exact nature of the company's business, before the buyer signs the contract.

Nevertheless, in the absence of compliance with the law by United Family HealthCare, at least, complainants are undoubtedly unaware of their rights and take the company's word that a certain portion of their payment is nonrefundable. And although a seller's misleading representations render the contract unenforceable by the seller, and although a buyer's injury because of such violations allows the buyer to sue for three times the amount of damages, plus restitution, plus attorney's fees and costs--and, in some cases $1,000 plus costs and fees-- complainants (especially seniors) may not make the effort to enforce their rights even though they have lost money. They simply become additional victims of affordable health care.