Connecticut insurance recovery services gaining attention
The Connecticut Insurance Department recovered about $1.6 million for policyholders within the first quarter this year. The launch of its first statewide campaign to raise awareness of its free resources and services contributed to the recovered amount, said Donna Tommelleo, a department spokeswoman.
The figure”™s newsworthiness is amplified by an underutilized insurance recovery program and by a newly released map revealing nearly one in seven gainfully employed Fairfield County residents works in insurance.
Regarding recovered money, policyholders can file complaints and submit questions through the Insurance Department”™s website, or call its consumer helpline. The department”™s consumer affairs unit focuses on complaints and keeping insurance companies accountable for abiding by state and federal laws.
“We reach out to insurance companies when people are getting stonewalled and companies have to answer to us because we”™re the regulators,” Tommelleo said.
The campaign is a response to a recent survey conducted by the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, which showed 28 percent of respondents knew of the Insurance Department”™s free assistance, but only 3 percent used it.
“Greater awareness of our services means more Connecticut citizens will benefit from our help,” Insurance Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi said in a statement.
The campaign included TV ads, which were aired during the Winter Olympics, reminding carriers the Insurance Department is available to provide assistance.
Along with airing TV ads, sending out brochures and creating a frequently asked questions Web page to alert consumers about the Insurance Department”™s services, the consumer affairs unit came out with a claims toolkit. The toolkit is a checklist of steps to follow for people who are looking to be reimbursed by insurance companies for their medical expenses. The department has also tasked itself with the responsibility of administering an external review process if companies refuse to pay for costs policyholders believe should have been covered by the insurer, Tommelleo said.
Keeping up with its campaign after the Olympics, the department still runs ads on buses and posts new videos on its YouTube channel, Tommelleo added.
During the open enrollment period when the Affordable Care Act made available a website for consumers to apply for health insurance, an influx of activity took place on the department”™s website. Technical issues on the health exchange website along with backlogs within insurance companies led to an onslaught of complaints and questions on the website and over the phone, Tommelleo said.
“We got complaints from consumers about insurance companies such as Anthem, which took the biggest market share in Connecticut,” Tommelleo said. “People weren”™t getting their cards and weren”™t able to get through to the company for a while. We held daily meetings with the company for weeks and weeks. These were phone meetings with high-level members of the company, including the CEO, to make sure they”™re working through those issues. We asked, ”˜Show us your call time and how fast you”™re turning around the payment process.”™ We were working with the company and holding them accountable.”
The Insurance Department”™s services benefit millions, Tommelleo said. Each year, the consumer affairs unit recovers more than $4 million on health, auto and homeowner claims, according to the department”™s website. Its market conduct unit regularly examines insurance companies”™ practices to make sure they comply with state laws. And the financial regulation division monitors ensures claims are paid.
Recently, the most common insurance issues involved unresolved claims following storm/weather damage. But this year, policyholders are raising more questions and concerns primarily about health insurance, Tommelleo said.
“Last year, there were a lot of property and casualty issues from the storms,” Tommelleo said. “This year, we may see health care pick up more because more people are switching insurance companies and shopping around. Health care is such a big issue right now, and we may see an uptick in questions and concerns related to that.”
The Insurance Department regulates the largest life insurance market in the country, Tommelleo said. With the presence of major insurance companies in Connecticut such as Prudential Financial Inc., The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Aetna Inc., The Travelers Companies and Cigna, one of the most competitive regional marketplaces for insurance companies to capture is Fairfield County, she said.
“In Fairfield County, there is a heavy concentration of people who work in the insurance and financial services industry,” Tommelleo said. “More than 15 percent of the residents in Fairfield County are employed in the insurance and financial services industry.”
Fairfield County has a high concentration of insurance and financial services employees.
Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of the story, it said the consumer toolkit helps people looking for reimbursements in both medical and auto expenses. The toolkit actually doesn’t assist with auto expenses. There is a separate auto arbitration program for this. In a quote, Donna Tommelleo said that the Insurance Department gets complaints from carriers about insurance companies like Anthem. She meant to say the department gets complaints from consumers.