Class Action Filed Against Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance Company for Bad Faith Denial of Coverage and Elder Abuse

A bad faith insurance class action lawsuit has been filed against
the Chicago-based insurance company Bankers Life and Casualty, alleging they
are denying benefits to those who paid for long-term health care insurance so
they would have security in their old age. The class action, alleging elder
abuse, was filed in the U.S. District Court in Portland. Attorneys for the
putative class that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, more elderly
Oregonians and their families who could join the suit. The Oregon action is
similar to other lawsuits against Bankers Life in other states. Grants Pass
resident Dennis Fallow, a plaintiff of the lawsuit, claims his mother has paid
their premiums for years, counting on having support if she became ill. “That
time came and all she got from Bankers Life was a cold shoulder, rejection, and
red tape. It was a total rip off,” he said in a statement to the press.
Fallow’s 79-year-old mother, Katherine Fallow, needed an in-home caregiver when
she came home in 2009 following multiple hospitalizations. The family hired a
caregiver certified as a home health aide by the State of Washington and an
Oregon certified home health aide to care for Mrs. Fallow. Dennis Fallow began
submitting the bills for that care to Bankers Life, anticipating payment under
terms of his mother’s policy. What followed were several months of wrangling
over aides’ qualifications, long delays in communications, and denials of
payments. Bankers Life eventually made payments in the amount of $11,388, far short
of the $51,667 the family paid for Mrs. Fallow’s care. Mrs. Fallow died on July
6, 2011.

Source/more: BigClassAction.com