Iowa Insurance Division charges agencies with Medicare misrepresentations

The Iowa Insurance Division has filed charges against two insurance agencies and an insurance agent claiming they made misrepresentations in Medicare Supplement mailings.

Cynthia J. Fitzgerald-Stillwell and the Robert J. Stillwell Agency of Spring House, Penn., has been charged with four violations relating to their use of Medicare Supplement mailings including misrepresenting the terms of Medicare Plan F and failing to make a required disclosure in the mailings, the Insurance Division said on its website Monday. More than 30,000 mailings were sent by Fitzgerald to Iowans that included misleading language, some of which she created, and nearly 800 Iowans responded, the Iowa Insurance Division said in a statement.

In addition, Senior Direct Inc. of Rockwall, Texas, has been charged with three violations relating to its use of Medicare Supplement mailings including misrepresenting the terms of insurance policies, failing to make a required disclosure in the mailings, and using a 30 percent rate increase statistic without including the source of that statistic, the division said.

TargetLeads, a division of Senior Direct, Inc., also sent numerous mailings containing misleading language that TargetLeads created. TargetLeads mailings were sent to Iowans on behalf of other insurance producers, the division's website said.

'We have alleged that Iowans have been misled with these mailings. Because Medicare supplement insurance is an important tool for managing health care costs, it is critical that Iowans are given accurate information as they make decisions,” Iowa Insurance Division spokesman Chance McElhaney said.

Iowans can contact the Iowa Insurance Division's Senior Health Information program by calling (800) 351-4664 or going to www.therightcalliowa.gov.