February 24, 2006

Attorney General Corbett takes action against PA company accused of deceptively advertising prescription drug plan; Consumers have until March 21, 2006 to obtain refunds

HARRISBURG - Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced that a Pennsylvania business will refund consumers, pay fines and get out of the health care business following claims that it used deceptive marketing tactics to lure senior citizens into purchasing prescription drug assistance programs that are available for free. Consumers have until March 21, 2006 to file a complaint to obtain restitution.

The Attorney General's Health Care Section entered into an "Assurance of Voluntary Compliance" agreement with Michael and Dora Markle and their business Pro-Tel Planning, LLC, 213 East Lancaster St., Red Lion, York County. The action resolves alleged violations of Pennsylvania's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
  
According to investigators, the company between 2004 and 2005 advertised statewide the sale of its services that claimed to help qualified senior citizens apply for low or no cost prescription drugs from the pharmaceutical manufacturers' Patient Assistance Programs.

Pro-Tel charged consumers a $60 fee, per prescription, per year to fill out applications and other documents. The ads and solicitations that reached thousands of older Pennsylvanians also included false representations that consumers were required to purchase life insurance to qualify for the services, according to the Assurance. During the investigation, Pro Tel and the insurance company refunded more than $1,200 to consumers.

Corbett said the ads allegedly deceived consumers by:

• Falsely claiming that it is "impossible" for physicians to offer their patients help in obtaining free prescription medications because they would be bogged down in paperwork with no time to see patients.
• Failing to make consumers aware that the same information and forms are offered free of charge, via the Internet or by calling toll-free numbers. 
• Falsely representing that consumers had to purchase a life insurance policy from United American Insurance Company in order to "qualify" for preferred services.
• Falsely claiming that the company used "state of the art" computer software programs to track consumers' prescriptions and eligibility information when the software used was standard and common in the industry. 
• Failing to inform consumers that they had the right to cancel their contract within three full business days without penalty.

"Many of the consumers that Pro-Tel is accused of misleading were trusting seniors who believed that this was the only way that they could get assistance in obtaining free prescriptions," Corbett said.  "We contend that older Pennsylvanians were deceived into believing that the 'assistance programs' they purchased were unavailable anywhere else, when in fact similar programs exist on the Internet at no cost to the consumer."

Under the terms of the Assurance, Pro-Tel denies the Commonwealth's allegations and agrees to:

• Refund a portion of the fees to consumers who file complaints before March 21, 2006 with the Attorney General's Office.
• Dissolve Pro-Tel Planning, LLC., and stop engaging in the sale of their assistance services in the Commonwealth.
• Stop engaging in all health care related business that is not directly related to the sale of insurance.
• Pay more than $7,500 in civil penalties and investigation costs.

Corbett said consumers who wish to file a complaint to obtain restitution should contact the Health Care Section at 1-877-888-4877 or visit www.attorneygeneral.gov.

The Assurance was filed in Commonwealth Court. 

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