On April 19, I, purchased insurance, or so I thought. Because I'm in college and no longer under my parents' insurance plan, I thought it would be wise to have an insurance policy that would cover me if I were to have an emergency or any general sickness that the local campus doctor was not qualified to treat. I thought I found insurance through a company call International Association of Benefits (IAB), which is sold by the company Health Lead Systems Inc (located at 7980 Mansfield Hwy, Kennedale, TX 76060; (817) 478-0270).
In buying the insurance, I returned the call of an associate named Debra, who had contacted me, claiming that I qualified for a great insurance plan that her company sells. Because I had been burned about a month ago trying to buy insurance, I was extremely skeptical, asking her many questions about benefits and the company that she represents.
Nervous about making the purchase, I asked representative, Debra, several time whether or not this was a bona fide insurance company. She repeatedly told me, yes and continued reading the candy-coated benefits. She also gave a personal testimony about IAB that I now find difficult to believe since I have dealt with the company first hand.
I found out that the insurance that I purchased was not actually insurance, but a benefit savings plan, after having emergency surgery at the Huntsville Memorial Hospital on April 29. One of the financial representatives of the hospital visited me as I was being discharged from the hospital the day after the surgery, informing me that the insurance cards that I provided were not a form of insurance, so the hospital called the company and they responded saying they were only a benefit savings plan.
Infuriated by this news because the representative (Debra) assured me time and time again that this was, indeed, insurance, I decided to take action. After I had recuperated from the surgery I underwent, I called IAB to cancel my policy and voice a complaint concerning their operations.
They would not refund my money because they said that they have no control over the representatives who sell the insurance and because the time period that I had to cancel had already expired on April 29. (I should not physically achieve this on April 29th because I had the emergency surgery on that date and I was incoherent because of the anesthesia and pain medication. I explained this to the IAB representative and she told me that nothing could be done.)
I then decided to revert back to the company who sold the insurance to me, Health Lead Systems Inc, and they too, were of no valuable assistance. I spoke to a male named David on May 3, who told me that someone would be getting back with me the following day concerning the fraud and they have yet to contact me to this day.
In the middle of May, I spoke with the legal advisor for Sam Houston State University, and he told me that this was definitely a combination of telemarketing fraud by Health Lead Systems Inc and Deceptive trade practices by IAB. He told me that I would have difficulty proving my case concerning telephone fraud because the conversation was not recorded. While all this was happening, I was ill and I needed surgery to correct the problem, but had no way to finance it. I have had to pay off three emergency room visits due to the fact that I could not have the corrective surgery, totaling about $6,000-7,000.
My health got to a point that I needed to see a specialist and I needed to have the surgery. On September 30, Dr. Mangal and Dr. Franklin performed the surgery at the Woman's Hospital of Texas. The doctors performed a laporotomy, removing a golf ball size cyst from a ligament connected to my uterus and my diseased appendix. The endometriosis I had at the time was evaporated.
It is now November 11, and I have incurred over $18,000 in debt from the surgery, with all the charges on my parents' credit cards. Because I didn't have any valid insurance at the onset of the problem, I have been forced to pay for everything in full and upfront because it is pre-existing and no company will cover this. I bought a policy on August 15 to further ensure that another disaster like this would not happen to me.
This situation has caused extreme financial burden on my parents as well as for me. I now have to make $400 payments to my parents every month to pay for the costs of the surgery on their credit cards. If I would not have been a victim of fraud, I would have had the opportunity to search for valid insurance and all of this stress and financial burden would not be a part of my life. I don't know if this is possible, but I would like either Health Lead Systems Inc or IAB to be responsible for repaying all the bills concerning this specific health matter.
I am a 21-year-old college student and I am supporting myself financially (with the $17,000 help from my parents so that I could have the surgery). My parents only agreed to put the charges on their credit cards if I would pay them the minimum balances due on the credit cards monthly. Now, I am in a bind because the cost of the surgery was a blow to my budget and my monthly income is barely enough to live off of. This semester of college is taken care of, but I'm wondering how I'm going to afford the spring semester because of my extreme financial burden.
I have a feeling that I am not the only one who has been suckered into buying this service from Health Lead Systems Inc. I not only want to fight this for me, but for all the other low income individuals out there like me searching for suitable health care. I feel like companies should not be able to sell this service over the phone because there is no physical proof of what you are buying into.
0 comments