Conseco Inc. agreed to pay a $2.3 million fine and improve its long-term care insurance procedures under a nationwide settlement with 40 states, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said Wednesday.
The agreement, which includes both Missouri and Kansas, also calls for the Carmel, Ind., specialty insurer to pay at least $4 million in restitution to consumers in the participating states; to invest $26 million in systems upgrades and improved claims-handling procedures, and to pay an additional $10 million in fines if it fails to make those improvements within two and a half years.
The settlement involves two Conseco subsidiaries, Conseco Senior Health Insurance Co. and Bankers Life and Casualty Insurance Co., and covers an estimated 49,000 or more claims between Jan. 1, 2005, and April 30, 2007, that may have been improperly denied. Conseco said it didn’t admit to findings of mishandled claims.
Missouri insurance regulators will receive $37,574 of the initial $2.3 million fine and Kansas will get $30,386, based on the two subsidiaries’ premium volume in the two states. How much money consumers might receive for claims that weren’t handled properly has not yet been calculated.
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