(The Center Square) – State Attorney General Dave Yost is suing a Texas-based insurance company to stop it from doing business in Ohio because he says it left first responders on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills.
Yost said Tuesday he filed a motion in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on behalf of the Ohio Department of Insurance for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop Thin Blue Line Benefits Association from doing business in the state.
Thin Blue Line sells health insurance coverage to police officers, firefighters and civilian support workers.
Yost said the company did not get a license and stopped covering medical bills for retired first responders. He also wants the Department of Insurance appointed conservator to protect company assets.
“In Ohio, you can’t drive without a license, just as you can’t sell insurance without a license – there are consequences for both,” Yost said. “This company lied to first responders and misrepresented their services, creating a whirlwind of uncertainty and financial straits.”
Thin Blue Line, with corporate offices near Austin, issued policies that covered between retirement and age 65 when Medicare eligibility takes effect. Yost said the company stopped paying medical claims in November and left 3,400 Ohio policyholders with large medical bills. One policyholder owne more than $270,000.
Yost also said the company was unresponsive when policyholders called to try to resolve the unpaid claims.
The motion wants to ban Thin Blue Line from:
• Conducting insurance business without a license.
• Advertising health insurance plans.
• Enrolling new members.
• Collecting monthly premiums from policyholders, which range from $778 to $3,005 a month.
“Each day that Thin Blue Line holds itself out as a health insurer, accepts monthly premiums from policyholders, and fails to pay claims it owes to medical providers is another day of enormous harm to retired first responders,” Yost said.
