Telemarketer Is Fined $195M for Selling 'Sham' Health Coverage Plans

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles for Southern Florida in Miami ordered Simple Health Plans and its CEO Steven Dorfman to pay $195 million for violating the FTC's telemarketing sales rule, said Gayles' signed Feb. 7 order (docket 0:18-cv-62593), as publicized in an FTC news release Friday. The scheme included selling "sham health care plans that did not deliver the coverage or benefits they promised and effectively left consumers uninsured and exposed to limitless medical expenses," the agency said. Also fined and banned from engaging in future telemarketing schemes were Health Benefits One, Health Center Management, Innovative Customer Care, Simple Insurance Leads and Senior Benefits One.