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Quality Health Plan has been fined and penalized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for its mishandling of a situation created by its own error.
Problems began for the Tampa-based insurer when a billing gaffe prevented the company from collecting premiums from its customers for more than a year, from January 2008 until August 2009. Things only got worse when the company tried to resolve the mistake.
According to the CMS, Quality immediately demanded outstanding balances in their entirety from its customers, to be paid in 30 days, with no payment options. That posed a serious challenge to many customers, 75% of which were eligible for low income subsidies.
“The imposition of such a large bill places this vulnerable population in a tough position," said Jon Blum, deputy administrator at CMS, in a release. "Based on the serious nature of the deficiencies and Quality Health Plan's failure to correct these issues in a timely manner, CMS has determined that intermediate sanctions in enrollment and marketing are necessary."
Since being notified of CMS' actions, Quality CEO Nazeer Khan issued a statement: “QHP takes its obligations and values its relationship with CMS seriously. QHP has already started to make changes and implemented outreach programs to ensure that this suspension does not affect any QHP member or provider.”
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