COLUMBUS, Ohio — There are serious new allegations against a health insurance company that provided benefits for retired first responders in Ohio. The Ohio Attorney General's Office alleges "every last dollar" was drained from a bank account that was set aside to pay Ohio policyholders' medical bills.
State attorneys asked a Franklin County judge to hold the Thin Blue Line Benefits Association in contempt of court after $2.9 million in the protected bank account disappeared, according to a motion that was filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in June.
Thin Blue Line Benefits health insurance plans filled a gap for retired first responders, who often leave their jobs years before they become eligible for Medicare. Ohio policyholders paid over $2.89 million that was ordered to be set aside in a bank account known as the Ohio Premiums Account, according to court records.
The money was supposed to be used to pay medical bills submitted by Ohio policyholders. The judge liquidated the account and gave control to the Ohio Department of Insurance to disburse the funds last December.
The money was emptied out of the account during two separate transfers made in January, which reduced the balance from $2,898,015.58 to $0, according to the state's motion. The motion also alleged the state has been unable to trace where the money went and that Thin Blue Line Benefits violated multiple court orders by removing the money from the account.
Read the full motion here.
The motion asks the judge to issue a show-cause order requiring Thin Blue Line to explain why it should not be held in contempt of court.
According to the motion, Anna Reed, Thin Blue Line's owner and chief executive officer, testified during a deposition with Florida regulators that Ohio did not have jurisdiction over the money.
News 5 Investigators reached out to Reed's attorney. We did not receive a response by our deadline.
Ohio disagrees. In an email, a spokesperson for the Ohio Attorney General's Office wrote that Ohio is "pursuing all options to recover the money."
A hearing on the state's motion is scheduled for Aug. 24.
'It hurts'
After learning about the missing money, Ohio policyholders we spoke to said they were not optimistic that their medical bills would be paid.
Retired Maple Heights police officer Steve Basiewicz said he paid approximately $7,000 out of his own pocket after Thin Blue Line failed to pay his medical claims.
"I'm on a fixed income," he said. "It hurts."
Basiewicz said he signed up for Thin Blue Line Benefits after it was endorsed by the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police.
He said he does not understand why Ohio has not figured out what happened to the money in the Ohio Premiums Account.
"It's simple basic investigation," he said.
"Anybody that had this insurance — they screwed them over again," Laurie Mino said.
Her family signed up for Thin Blue Line Benefits after her husband retired from the Willoughby Hills Police Department.
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When News 5 first spoke with Mino last year, she said her family had around $15,000 in unpaid medical claims. Since then, she said her family now owes close to $40,000 in medical bills that were supposed to be paid by Thin Blue Line Benefits.
"I hate to use the 'oh, it's a dark cloud,'" Mino said. "I mean, it is."
She was disappointed to learn the Ohio Premiums Account was empty.
"They [Thin Blue Line] were taking our money, and there wasn't any money to pay before, so why should there be money now?" she said. "It's almost like ... we're not shocked. Oh, there's no money? Was there ever any money?"
