Colorado becomes fourth state to take action against Aliera

By Jenny Deam

Updated 12:31 pm CDT, Wednesday, August 14, 2019

The Colorado Division of Insurance has become the fourth state to take action against a Georgia company accused of deceiving scores of customers nationwide into buying what they thought was health insurance but often turned out to be worthless.

On Monday Colorado authorities issued a cease and desist order against Atlanta-based Aliera Companies and Trinity Healthshare, the Christian healthshare ministry it markets and administers. The company has 60 days to request a hearing, Colorado officials said Wednesday.

Aliera said in statement that millions in medical care payments have been shared on behalf of Colorado’s health care sharing ministry members through 2019.

“Aliera will vigorously defend its position,” the company said, “and feels confident that the health care sharing ministries will defend the right of these members to exercise their religious convictions in making their health care choices.

RELATED: Buyer beware: When religion, politics, health care and money collide

Texas authorities in May also sought a cease and desist order against the multi-million-dollar firm, accusing it of illegally selling insurance by using misleading language and sales pitches to deceive customers into thinking they had full medical coverage when later they would find out that their claims were not covered by the plan. As a result, many faced hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also filed a civil suit against Aliera in June and his office remains in settlement negotiations with the company to potentially recover losses for Texas customers. An agreement has not been reached, his office said Wednesday, but Aliera has said it will not sign up new members in the state at this time.

RELATED: Aliera to stop selling health plans in Texas and limit assets

Washington state also ordered the company to stop doing business there in May and earlier this month imposed $1.1 million in fines against the parent company and the healthshare ministry. In Georgia, consumer complaints against Aliera were forwarded to federal authorities for possible criminal charges, officials there said.

Aliera, formed in late 2015, has insisted it has done nothing wrong and makes clear to customers it is not selling traditional insurance so it is exempt from most state insurance laws and regulations — including the requirement to pay medical claims. Instead, the company promotes health plans through a Christian-based healthshare ministry where customers sign a profession of faith and contribute monthly into a fund, administered by Aliera, to be used for future medical bills.

RELATED: Washington state hits Aliera with $1 million fine

Aliera has said it has about 100,000 members nationwide, including 17,000 in Texas, 3,000 in Washington and an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 in Colorado. It collected $215 million in revenue last year, the company has said.

“Over the past few month, the Department of Insurance has received a number of complaints from consumers regarding these companies,” that agency said in a statement, “because of this the companies my be putting consumers at risk and violating Colorado insurance law.”

Complaints against the company and the troubled history of one of its founders were detailed in a July 7 Houston Chronicle investigation.