Local BBB challenges
Care Entree ad claims
Care Entree, a Texas-based company that markets discounted health care services, has been the subject of complaints and investigations in several states, including Hawaii.
Owned by the Grand Prairie, Texas-based Capella Group Inc., Care Entree has an unsatisfactory rating with Hawaii's Better Business Bureau because of its failure to substantiate or modify advertising claims.
The Better Business Bureau file, opened in 2001, indicates that Care Entree has not responded to an advertising challenge presented by the bureau requesting substantiation of the claims of "proven product" and "a vast list of local providers" honoring its member cards. In addition, the bureau asked for substantiation of savings claims.
In 2001 the state Insurance Division began making inquiries after seeing some of the company's marketing materials. Investigators were also unable to verify physicians or hospitals participating in the plan at that time. In the end, the division concluded that since the plans are not insurance, it had no jurisdiction.
Last November, the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. referred advertising by the Capella Group to the Federal Trade Commission for possible enforcement action after the company failed to respond to repeated requests regarding claims it made.
But a local Care Entree representative said it is the Better Business Bureau that has been uncooperative.
"We've tried to talk to the Better Business Bureau, and they have been very uncooperative. We've talked to our national headquarters, and they haven't got anywhere with them, either," said David Muldoon, an independent contractor selling the product locally.
A Capella Group representative could not be reached for comment.
But Anne Deschene, president of the BBB in Hawaii, said it is the company, both locally and nationally, that has failed to cooperate.
"I can tell you that we asked them to put everything in writing because of the way it stood. We've been waiting since 2002 to get a formal response to the request. We certainly did not refuse to meet with them. The point is that there is nothing to meet about," she said.
It is not clear how many members Care Entree has signed up in Hawaii.
Small Business Hawaii President Sam Slom, whose organization recently offered Care Entree to its members, said he was only recently made aware of complaints about the company.
"We weren't aware. As a matter of fact, one of our directors is David Muldoon, who is with Care Entree. Until I hear from him, I'll keep an open mind," he said.
Confusion over which doctors and hospitals participate with Care Entree stems partly from the fact that the company does not contract directly with doctors or hospitals.
Instead, it contracts with a company called Private Healthcare Systems, which creates the network of providers, arranges the discounts and sells its provider lists to companies such as Care Entree, as well as insurance companies.
Care Entree representatives say they tell members who need medical care to make sure they mention the Private Healthcare Systems affiliation to the health care provider.
Even so, most doctors are unlikely to know they are part of the network, said Dr. Robert Sussman, of the Medical Corner, who has treated Care Entree members.
"If you called 10 (doctors), I doubt they'd know," he said.
Kuakini Medical Center representatives confirmed they signed up with Private Healthcare Systems Network, but were unaware of the Care Entree connection.
The confusion over such plans and what they offer is not unique to Care Entree. It has led regulators in some mainland states to take action.
A recent article in Consumer Reports notes that legislators in Georgia and Kansas -- fearing that consumers might confuse discount card plans with health insurance -- passed laws requiring that discount cards state in prominent type that the programs do not constitute insurance.
The confusion over who is participating and what the card offers is troubling to physicians.
The 670-member Hawaii Independent Physicians Association was approached by Care Entree when the company first came to Hawaii. Executive Director William Donahue said his group decided not to get involved.
"Doctors were concerned that patients might think they were purchasing health insurance instead of just a discount card.
"We realize there are a growing number of working uninsured patients and can see why these types of programs would be attractive, but until the public understands the difference between these programs and insurance, doctors are understandably cautious," he said.
