BRING PEACE OF MIND.
BUT WHAT IF THE
INSURANCE COMPANY
BETRAYS YOUR TRUST BY
POCKETING PREMIUMS AND
THEN REFUSING TO PAY
LEGITIMATE CLAIMS?
WELL IT HAPPENED.
IT WAS A LARRY BARKER
INVESTIGATION THAT
EXPOSED THE
INSURANCE SCANDAL
IMPACTING TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF NEW
MEXICANS.
TONIGHT LARRY IS HERE
WITH A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT
IN THE CASE.
Hanson: "We believe that
they were egregious
practices."
Barker: "When the
Standard Insurance
Company was hired to
provide life insurance
to New Mexico
public employees there
was not a whiff of
scandal. But what a
difference a few years
makes. A 2012 News
13 investigation found
Standard committing
misdeeds that will cost
the out of state
insurance company
millions of dollars for
business practices
referred to as
coldhearted."
WHAT HAPPENED? WELL YOU
NEED TO GO BACK TO
OCTOBER 2012.
Moser: "I )ve never
encountered anything
like this."
Burckle: "How could this
happen?"
Moser: "It staggers me.
It )s the lastthing I
would have expected."
TO MARTIN HOEFLER IT WAS
A MATTER OF LIFE AND
DEATH. HE WAS A FIRE
FIGHTER WITH NEW
MEXICO )S FORESTRY
DIVISION. MARTIN BOUGHT
EXTRA LIFE
INSURANCE TO PROVIDE FOR
HIS FAMILY IN CASE
SOMETHING HAPPENED.
TRAGEDY STRUCK IN 2012
WHEN MARTIN DIED OF
CANCER LEAVING BEHIND
HIS WIFE AND 8 CHILDREN.
MARTIN HOEFLER WAS JUST
50.
Barker: "Just weeks
after Martin )s funeral
the Hoefler family
received another
devastating blow. You
see,
instead of mailing a
check for $33,000, the
Standard Insurance
Company refused to pay
the death claim, even
though Standard had been
pocketing Martin )s
premiums for years."
AND ITS NOT JUST MARTIN
HOEFLER. BOB ALLARD WAS
A STATE EMPLOYEE
WORKING AT HERON LAKE.
ANTHONY MARQUEZ IS PARK
SUPERINTENDANT.
Marquez: "He was the
kind of person that
would show up early,
leave late. He took
great pride in what he
did
here at the park.He
worked his butt off. He
took the job in his late
60 )s to provide health
insurance for him
and his family."
BOB HAD BEEN PAYING HIS
LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS
ALL
ALONG. BUT WHEN HE DIED,
STANDARD REFUSED TO PAY
BOB )S WIDOW THE
$22,000 CLAIM BECAUSE
THE INSURANCE COMPANY
SAID A
MEDICAL FORM HAD NOT
BEEN FILLED OUT. ED
BURCKLE IS CABINET
SECRETARY OVER THE
GENERAL SERVICES
DEPARTMENT.
Burckle: "When I found
out that the two
employees were denied
coverage I was shocked.
I found it
unbelievable that
Standard Life had denied
their claim when the two
employees had been
paying their
premiums all along."
IN 2012, GENE MOSER WAS
STATE PERSONNEL
DIRECTOR.
Moser: "When a family is
expecting that funding,
that money, pay for
death benefits whatever,
and find out that they
are not getting
anything, I think thats
obscene. ... Their
response was immoral.
Its wrong."
STANDARD INSURANCE IS
HEADQUARTERED IN
PORTLAND OREGON. THE
FIRM WOULDN )T DISCUSS
THE MATTER OVER THE
PHONE. AND THEY
WOULDN )T TALK ABOUT IT
IN PERSON EITHER.
Standard Reception: "My
instructions are to ask
you to leave."
AND JUST TO MAKE SURE WE
GOT THE MESSAGE,
STANDARD
DISPATCHED TWO EMPLOYEES
ON A MISSION TO PROTECT
THE
INSURANCE EMPIRE FROM
UNWANTED SCRUTINY.
Barker: "Are you
threatening me, sir?
Here )s a security guard
with Standard Insurance
Company, taking taking
pictures on a public
street. What are you
afraid of"?
STANDARD SOLD LIFE
INSURANCE TO 74,000
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES ACROSS
NEW MEXICO. OUR
INVESTIGATION FOUND THE
FIRM DENIED MORE THAT
$200,000 IN DEATH
BENEFITS TO VARIOUS
FAMILIES HOLDING
LEGITIMATE
POLICIES. IN 2012,
VICTIMS FILED A CLASS
ACTION LAWSUIT IN
FEDERAL
COURT.
Hanson: "Standard
essentially waited until
somebody died before
they tried to figure out
whether
or not they were
covered."
ATTORNEY ROBERT HANSON
REPRESENTS THE VICTIMS
IN THE
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.
Hanson: "We brought the
lawsuit essentially
alleging that the state
and standard were
misrepresenting to the
state employees ... that
they were in fact
insured when they may
have been at risk for
having a claim denied."
LAST MONTH, THE CASE WAS
SETTLED OUT OF COURT.
Hanson: "Part of the
whole underlying basis
of insurance is to have
the peace of mind
particularly
with regard to life
insurance that if you
die ... your loved ones
will not have to get
into a fight with the
insurance company over
whether or not you were
covered." Burckle: "If
you )re a beneficiary of
a loved one who has
passed away and you find
out that your life
insurance carrier has
denied your death
benefits it )s an
extremely big deal."
AS PART OF THE
SETTLEMENT, NEW MEXICO
AGREED TO PAY $100,000.
Burckle: "The state
wanted this issue behind
us to have it resolved.
So we felt that adding
one hundred
thousand dollars to
enable both parties to
settle the case was the
appropriate action and
greatly reduced
the state )s future
risk."
STANDARD AGREED TO
SETTLE THE CASE FOR $2.3
MILLION.
Barker: "The good news
is that every public
employee who paid life
insurance premiums to
Standard will
get a share of the
settlement proceeds. The
bad news is there are
more than 74,000
employees who
qualify. If you had
basic life coverage your
check will be $5.06. If
you paid for
supplemental life
insurance
you )ll get $42.05. The
first settlement checks
will be mailed in about
30 days."
STANDARD NO LONGER
PROVIDES LIFE INSURANCE
TO NEW MEXICO PUBLIC
EMPLOYEES.
Hanson: "One would hope
that through a
multimillion dollar
settlement, the
executives ... of the
insurance company would
be re-evaluating the way
that they do business."
LARRY BARKER KRQE NEWS
13.
AFTER STANDARD REFUSED
TO PAY SEVERAL DEATH
CLAIMS, THE STATE
STEPPED IN AND PAID THE
MONEY OWED TO THE
FAMILIES.
ADLIB TOSS TO WEATHER
TONIGHT...Partly cloudy.