Upstate attorneys sue national health non-profit Liberty HealthShare for failing to pay medical bills

Upstate attorneys sue national health non-profit Liberty HealthShare for failing to pay medical bills

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – Vicky Lynn has been a Christian all her life. She is self employed so when she was hunting for health insurance it appeared fitting to opt for a Christian non-gain. She heard about Liberty HealthShare on the radio.

“I read and imagined, I am going to get this variety and simply call and come across out about this,” Vicky Lynn explained.

She says at initially it was heading nicely. It aided protect the expenses of some physician visits.

“Like if you had a bodily or a thing like that, then they compensated for that,” Lynn claimed.

But when it came time to help go over the charges of an highly-priced operation, she had to fork the bill of far more than $10,000.

“I known as them and they informed me these expenditures were being on a backlog,” Lynn said. “They claimed by next thirty day period it really should be up.”

Her lawyer Matt Shealy from Spartanburg claims this was a monthly bill Liberty HealthShare had agreed to pay out.

“They agreed they owe the $10,000 we have heard about, they have admitted they owe that cash,” Shealy explained.

In a statement to Fox Carolina Liberty Healthshare stated in part:

“Liberty HealthShare is a non-gain overall health care price tag sharing ministry as outlined in the Inexpensive Care Act and statutes in additional than 30 states. Liberty HealthShare is not, and has never ever been, an insurance corporation. It does not promote wellness insurance policy.”

Lynn suggests when she signed up she imagined it was wellbeing insurance policies.

“They showed me what they pay back and what they do, just like any insurance policy company would,” Lynn explained.

Their website reveals alternatives like opt for a method and get a no cost estimate. Lynn experienced a card, which she considered was an insurance policies card and paid out a higher month-to-month premium.

“It was $399 a thirty day period,” Lynn mentioned.

Shealy filed a lawsuit expressing Liberty HealthShare unsuccessful to spend for Lynn’s healthcare expenses and is without a doubt well being insurance based mostly on the South Carolina statute.

“If somebody hits you in the encounter, you do not get to say it’s not assault, no the statue says it is assault,” Shealy mentioned. “If you concur to spend a person else’s clinical bills you are an insurance company.”

Shealy states Liberty HealthShare misused cash gathered from individuals, like the $399 a thirty day period Lynn paid out in premiums. The Economical Treatment Act demands 80{c024931d10daf6b71b41321fa9ba9cd89123fb34a4039ac9f079a256e3c1e6e8} of every overall health insurance coverage greenback to be put in on member statements. Shealy claims only 56{c024931d10daf6b71b41321fa9ba9cd89123fb34a4039ac9f079a256e3c1e6e8} was spent on member promises, according to information revealed in the Massachusetts Health and fitness Connector. He believes a good part of the money was becoming used in other places.

“Pot farms in Oregon, there is a jet charter plane in Ohio they individual a piece of,” Shealy stated. “They have purchased hundreds of acres of the Lazy L Ranch and Lazy L Meats.”

In a assertion Liberty HealthShare mentioned:

“88{c024931d10daf6b71b41321fa9ba9cd89123fb34a4039ac9f079a256e3c1e6e8} of each and every greenback contributed following the initially two months of membership goes straight into sharing members’ requirements. We generally strive to stick to the legislation, principles and restrictions that are recognized for wellness treatment sharing ministries. Owing to pending litigation, we have no even more remark at this time.”

On March 20th the defendants in the case filed a motion to dismiss the scenario

Shealy thinks there may perhaps be additional victims and Lynn just hopes no just one else is lured in like she was.

“What I appreciated is that they were being Christians’ in an insurance policy business, but I don’t believe they were being seriously Christians’,” Lynn said.