An insurance brokerage based in Burlington recently agreed to pay a group of Iowa cities, counties and school districts over a million dollars to cover what the state insurance commissioner has classified as “deceptive” fees. But SOME local officials say they’re getting just a fraction of what they SHOULD be paid and they’d like to sue. Two Rivers Insurance has agreed to pay restitution to Winnebago County, for example, but County Supervisor Mike Stensrud of Lake Mills says the county actually overpaid Two Rivers by far, far more.
Hancock County Supervisor Jerry Tlach of Garner says Hancock County paid the company more than 250-thousand dollars in brokerage fees that were disguised as premium costs, but Two Rivers has agreed to cut the county a check for just a quarter of that amount.
Two Rivers Insurance sold Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance policies to local Iowa governments for more than 10-thousand employees statewide. In 2014, Wellmark informed regulators it had discovered Two Rivers was adding fees to what was described to customers as just the premiums. Two Rivers denies wrongdoing, but in May the company agreed to pay the local goverments one-point-three million dollars.
