Robert Alexander, an "Open Addmissions Officer" for Consumers Health Benefits called me on 9/19/05 in response to an inquiry I'd made on the internet for affordable health insurance. He stated that his company was affiliated with Guarantee Life Insurance Co. in Chicago which had been in business for 63 years. He stated that his non-profit company has provided insurance benefits to such companies as Ford, Johnson & Johnson, and offers the same benefits as other PPO, s such as BC, Aetna, Cigna, etc.
He read through the list of benefits, including hospitalization, both inpatient and outpatient, office visits, Lab and diagnositic blood work, Emergency Ambulance services, and a choice of three prescription plans. He stated that there were no deductibles, or any waiting period. I was writing all of this down as fast as possible, but then asked him to mail me a written list of these benefits and how to sign up. He asked if I had a fax machine, which I didn't. He said because this was the last date of the open enrollment that I should just keep on writing and I'd be receiving the completed health insurance pkg. upon sign up. He also said I'd receive an e-mail confirmation of this conversation within 15 mins.after the conversation. He even said he was setting up a voice recording in which he repeated the benefits, etc. and asked if I agreed to all of this.
He gave me a phone number 1-877-687-2422 of the membership benefits deparment where I should call after receiving the health insurance benefits package and provide them with a list of my doctors names and addressed so they could be added to their list of providers. He further gave me a referral # 9567 for reference in future calls.
While he was talking I "googled" Guarantee Life Insurance Co. and did find a Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Co. In Glenview, Ill. complete with a HIPAA policy which I knew companies now had to have so this further led to his credibility.
To make a long story short, I did give him my credit card # so he could bill for the first monthly premium plus an administration fee totalling 219. 95 with an understanding that my monthly premiums of "only" $109.95 would be deducted from this card in the future. When I received no e-mail and then later called the numbers only to receive voice mail instructions for call backs, I began to get concerned. I left a message on Robert Alexander's voice mail cancelling this policy agreement and asked him to call me to verify receipt of this message. He didn't. After I saw that my credit card was billed to Guarantee Trust Life for that same amount, I called the credit card company and reported the Rip-Off. This matter is now pending. I'm hoping this report will help someone else before you hand over your money or credit card information.
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