A long-term care insurance company fined $325,000 by the state of South Dakota is being required to submit a timeline for fixing problems identified during an investigation.
The state Division of Insurance examination of Ability Insurance’s business practices identified 20 findings in which the company was not in compliance with state laws designed to protect consumers, ranging from incorrect forms to dozens of wrongfully denied claims, the Argus Leader newspaper reported.
Ability must prove within a couple of months that it has fixed the problems, or face more discipline such as another fine or the suspension of its business license, state Insurance Director Merle Scheiber said.
“They have to prove all 20 of those (findings) to our satisfaction,” he said.
The state levied the fine earlier this summer after a three-year investigation. The Insurance Division’s report was released to the public last week.
Ability has “acted decisively” to make improvements, and the company has made changes that address the findings in the division’s report, said Don Charsky, executive chairman of Ability Resources, which manages claims for Ability Insurance.
“We continually update our policies and procedures and have committed new internal and external resources to make our claims-handling more customer-centric and transparent,” Charsky said in a statement. “We also implemented a rigorous new compliance process, upgraded our team and engaged an outside legal expert to review previously submitted claims, which gives us confidence that all policyholders have been treated fairly.”
Topics Carriers
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