April 06, 2005
NASE: National Association for the Self-Employed
I was ripped off by NASE and their MEGA insurance. See my story below. If you are a member of NASE, I would recommend quitting immediately. If you have MEGA insurance or any other insurance owned by UICI Insurance Center, I would recommend canceling your policy and signing up with a more reputable company like Blue Shield before you get hurt and are stuck with huge medical bills.
I'm just a normal self-employed guy who trusted the NASE marketing pitch. For me it turned out to be a disaster, and I have learned that I'm not the only one who thinks NASE is a scam.
In the mean time. Do your own research. Type in "NASE sucks" in google and read all the horror stories. I know first hand that this is not a joke. See more links below.
Great article in Businessweek:
It's Enough to Make You Sick
Wall Street Journal:
States Probe Health-Policy Sales Promoted Though Associations
Nonprofit Groups That Tout Insurance Have Hidden Links
PDF of Article
Other complaints:
NASE/MEGA Complaints
Forum filled with NASE complaints
More NASE/MEGA complaints
Damning Quotes:
"Dana was stuck with almost $500,000 in medical bills that MEGA refused to cover, and now lives on her boat to save money on rent"
"Kevin Cruse, a 46-year-old firefighter in Parsons, Kan., says he canceled his National Association for the Self-Employed policy last year after six months because he says it paid so few of his family's medical claims."
"I found NASE's insurance to be a waste of money too. They never paid a single claim... even trips to the emergency room were declined. I finally got tired of fighting them and cancelled the insurance."
"Merrideth Tidwell, a former manager for UICI in Sarasota, Fla., says her superiors taught agents to withhold information about coverage limits from prospective customers. Ms. Tidwell, a top producing agent, according to a UICI internal newsletter, says she was instructed by managers to tear out a page from a brochure that explains coverage limits, or to not give brochures to customers."
"They are training agents to trick the consumer"
"I'm afraid we made a really stupid decision," says Mrs. Bloedel. "We trusted what the insurance salesman was saying. Insurance is like a foreign language to us."
"...but when I had acute appendicitis and gathered $27,000 in medical bills, I found that the small print, very small print, states that Mega Life and Health pays only 'covered expenses'"
"Again, NASE is a rip-off. Mega Life & Health don't pay for anything hardly. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Stay Away From NASE and Mega Health and Life - You do not need the quarterly premium increases, but that is what you will get. They are the bait and switch of the health insurance world - Low initial premium, and then increase, increase, increase! Absolutely the worst business decision I ever, ever, ever made was to get buy insurance from that outfit for about eighteen months."
"NASE/Mega: Bloodsucking, Floppy-footed Clowns .... Avoid these guys LIKE THE PLAGUE"
Search Google:
NASE fraud
NASE scam
NASE sucks
NASE class action
NASE Lawsuit
NASE bad
NASE bogus
NASE rip off
NASE evil
NASE/UICI class action
If you run a website, please link to this site. Help spread the word!
More to come...
Steve Gehrman
Posted by steve at 11:11 PM
April 13, 2005
NASE: Benefits - Completely Worthless
NASE tries to convince people that by joining the NASE, your entitled to all these wonderful benefits.
I was a member of NASE for about 4 years. How many of these "benefits" did I take advantage of?
ZERO, ZILTCH, NADA, NONE
In my experience, with a little research using the internet, you can find deals as good or better than offered to NASE members.
There's no reason to waste your money on NASE!
Posted by steve at 11:04 PM
April 14, 2005
Boycott: Air America Radio
Air America Radio runs ads for NASE. Boycott Air America Radio!!
I like Air America, but they shouldn't be running ads for NASE. I can no longer listen or support Air America.
Write emails to Air America Radio and let them know that they should not accepts ads from NASE!!
Posted by steve at 06:05 PM
April 15, 2005
Ripped off by NASE? Hire a lawyer!
"Did promises of low health insurance premiums by an "association" lead to problems for you? Numerous consumers who bought health insurance through these non-profit associations are learning the hard way that they're paying higher premiums for fewer benefits than they had expected. If you have a problem with such an association, or if you are a former association employee with knowledge of deceptive sales practices, contact us by clicking here."
www.nasesucks.org is not associated with James Hoyer, I'm just providing this link.
Posted by steve at 06:47 PM
Yahoo Message Boards - UICI
There's lots of information about MEGA and their parent company UICI on the Yahoo Message boards.
There's lots of great posts. Check it out!
Posted by steve at 07:35 PM
NASE/MEGA on The Rip-Off Report
More great posts about NASE/MEGA on the Rip-Off report.
Posted by steve at 07:40 PM
MEGA Life's Insurer's practices questioned in Alabama
Another fantastic article!! MEGA Life's Insurer's practices questioned in AlabamaPosted by steve at 07:48 PM
HEALTH PLANS/POLICY: Why is the individual market such a mess?
HEALTH PLANS/POLICY: Why is the individual market such a mess?Posted by steve at 07:51 PM
MEGA ordered to stop selling certain insurance policies in Washington
The Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) issued a cease and desist order yesterday against Mega Life and Health Insurance Company (MEGA) of Oklahoma for selling health insurance that violates Washington law
Posted by steve at 07:56 PM
Health Insurance industry gouges self-employed
Health Insurance industry gouges self-employedPosted by steve at 08:43 PM
MEGA/UICI Class Action
The complaint charges UICI and certain of its officers and directors with violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of false and misleading financial statements that caused the Company's shares to trade at artificially inflated levels between January 17, 2000, and July 21, 2003 (the "Class Period").
Posted by steve at 08:46 PM
April 16, 2005
Multistate Review Of UICI Units Could Take Months
"It's a targeted exam that's going to be looking at the market practices of the companies," Stephanie Marquis, a spokeswoman for the Washington state insurance commissioner's office, said. About 25 states are participating in the exam, she said.
Posted by steve at 09:41 PM
April 17, 2005
Tell Congress to Stop Hurting your Healthcare!
The goal of ProtectYourHealthcare.org is to protect consumer and employee access to quality healthcare and oppose federal legislation that would allow Association Health Plan (AHP) insurers to take away the few health protections that consumers now have under state law.Posted by steve at 12:06 AM
April 19, 2005
My Story
I don't know anything about health insurance. Like most people, previously to being self-employed, I had always received health insurance through my employer. I rarely get sick, and never go to the doctor, so even terms like co-pay were completely foreign to me.
So, given the fact that I don't know anything, I figured I needed help. I needed someone or some organization to help me find a good deal. So, I stumbled upon NASE and thought this was great. An organization to help the self-employed. That's exactly what I was looking for. I thought these guys must know more that I do, and they have probably found the best insurance company for someone like me. So, I called signed up and told them to send the insurance salesman over, I was ready to sign up.
A few days later a woman came over and told us all about the insurance. It all sounded good to me given the fact that since I was clueless, I have nothing to compare it to. I trusted NASE, and thought in the worst case, maybe it's not the best, but how bad could it be. Sign me up.
My wife and I were planning to have children. So, since we both rarely go to the doctor, that was our only concern. We asked the sales person a minimum of 4 times wether pregnancy and prenatal care were covered and every time we got the same response. "Yes, of course, it's all covered".
Well, there's not much more to the story, you probably all ready know the ending. My wife got pregnant, we go to the doctor and they contacted MEGA and they said "Pregnancy is not covered". So now I'm stuck with paying everything. Every ultra sound, every checkup, Cesarean section, hospital stay, nurse care, genetic tests, everything. We also spent money getting pregnant. My wife ended up getting pregnant naturally, but we went through a whole course of infertility treatments which were pretty expensive too.
It might not be so bad if the insurance was cheap, but we were paying $448 a month!!!
So, in conclusion I was lied to about the coverage, and they took advantage or my ignorance about health insurance. I trusted NASE was there to help the self-employed, but it seems they are there to prey on the self-employed. If my story was an isolated incident, I would blame myself, but similar stories are all over the internet.
Some more fun facts:
1) My prescription card never worked. I'm not sure why. I called a few times and they said there was some problem in the computer, not sure, but it was never fixed.
2) When I canceled my MEGA insurance, they decided they would get one more months payment out of me before canceling it. They automatically changed my account another $448 and sent me a letter saying that my policy would a month after I had canceled. I had to spend $25 calling my bank to put a stop on that automatic payment. Real nice MEGA!!
Posted by steve at 01:33 AM