Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today praised the Department of Insurance (DOI) for imposing a significant penalty against Assurant, which Blumenthal's office strongly urged, to resolve allegations of illegal, abusive insurance coverage denials in cases of catastrophic illness.
The DOI - after investigating Assurant with Blumenthal's office - announced a settlement providing almost $1 million in restitution to Assurant policyholders wrongly denied coverage, and $2.1 million in penalties to Connecticut.
The settlement comes after Blumenthal, Healthcare Advocate Kevin P. Lembo and DOI Commissioner Thomas R. Sullivan also successfully pursued legislation to prohibit future abusive and arbitrary insurance coverage denials, as revealed in the Assurant case.
"This settlement sends a message that we will pursue and punish health insurers who betray our citizens with deceptive and dishonest use of technical excuses and ruses," Blumenthal said. "We will continue the fight for additional restitution to anyone treated unfairly and denied coverage illegally. At our urging, the legislature has closed gaps in our law that permitted misuse of supposed pre-existing conditions as a reason to reject coverage requests. This remedy for Assurant's wrongdoing should assure that it never happens again.
"The settlement announced today is the result of strong collaboration between state agencies to punish and prevent arbitrary and abusive health insurance practices. My office worked closely with the Department of Insurance to investigate Assurant's practices and fight for the health care coverage rightfully owed and deserved to patients suffering severe, catastrophic illness.
"We will continue our cooperative effort to carefully scrutinize the ongoing review of cases that Assurant closed without payment - and will ensure that any additional individuals receive restitution that may be owed. I congratulate the DOI for its determination to hold Assurant accountable and look forward to working with them on this matter, and other issues to further protect consumers."
